Bringing Honor
by Kuraii Koneko
Summary: AU - A 100 year old war. A prophecy. A Training group deported. The return of the Kagi. Segregation... And the chance to change it all. SessKag - ON HIATUS
1. Introduction

_Bringing Honor_

_Introduction_

_By: Kuraii-chan_

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**KK:** Oi! Hi-lai-lo! _:big cheesy smile:_ That's right; Kuraii-chan has come up with yet another great idea for a fan fiction! 

**Seika:** Oh dear, Kami-sama help us all… _:sighs:_

**KK:** … _:huffs:_ That's cold Seika, why do I even put up with you? I could always get a new muse…

_**The Inu-cast all gasps**_

**Rin:** Kuraii-sama would not do that, would she?

**Inu:** Hah, knowing her, anything is possible…

_**Everyone nods solemnly**_

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**Author Notes: **Wheee! Now, I want to say that much unlike my other fan fiction ideas, I actually had to think up this one… I decided I wanted to do something future-ish and during a war… and I came up with this! Let me tell you, it's a bit strange, hopefully absolutely different than any other fics you've come across! (It took me hours locked in my room to come up with all of this, so I hope everyone enjoys it!) 

**Disclaimer:** Sure, I own Inuyasha… I also claim to have invented the doughnut, manga all together, pocky, and ramen. In all seriousness though, I have no rights to Inuyasha nor to I claim to. Sue me if you wish, but I can tell you now all you'll get is a bit of pocket change, some lent, and a mountain of stuffed animals. (Yes, I have stuffed animals believe it or not… how can you resist the fluffiness and cuteness that is them!)

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**Kisetsu, Japan 3659**

Sunrise buttered the gentle mountaintops, bringing the coming of a new day... one in which Kagome did NOT particuarly welcome. Why? Well, as most tend to feel, she rather prefered sleeping in in the morning to having to get up early. And well, she just wasn't the biggest morning person.

"Kagome!"

The teen groaned into her pillow and tried to bury herself deeper into the comforting and warm bed.

"Ten more minutes!" She called half-heartedly.

A head popped into the room and peered exasperatedly at the covered form. "Come now Kagome, today is your first day, I have to see you off since you'll be living over there… and imagine what an impression you'll make if you're late!"

Kagome winced. Honor she meant. What dishonor she'd bring to the family if she didn't get her lazy self up now and dress for her first day at the Training.

"I'm up! I'm up!" she mumbled, stumbling out of her bed and hurriedly making her way to the closet… now where had she put her uniform?

The door snapped quietly shut and Kagome's mother went back downstairs to finish making breakfast for Kagome and her younger brother Souta. Both were starting a fresh year of their Training, and needed a good breakfast.

Slipping out of her nightclothes Kagome tugged on her black and silver uniform and sighed. Another year had come so quickly! And this year it was possible that they could be called out to go help out in the war!

She grabbed a silver ribbon and pulled her hair back into a practiced bun.

"Kagome! Souta! Breakfast is ready." Called her mother. Kagome nodded absently, wiping some imaginary wrinkles from her clean and pressed new uniform.

That was something she didn't get though… why they had to have a different uniform every year… but oh well. Nothing she could do about it, seeing as it was only Horibuchi Naraku who could change that rule.

The war was over who would be the next ruler of Japan. For as long as it could be remembered each new ruler had been identified by the an object within them, though having been so long since the last ruler no one could remember just what the item was; they were called the Kagi. But it had been well over a hundred years since the last ruler and another had yet to reappear. That is why the world had split in two. Two different groups fought over whom they wanted as rulers. The first group was made up of ningen, priest, and priestesses. They had dubbed themselves Junsuina, or "pure". The second group was made up of youkai, hanyou, and michihiko, who had been named by the Junsuina, Kitarai or "dirty". The Junsuina wanted a ruler to wipe out all the Kitarai; they wanted a peaceful and "pure" world to live in. The Kitarai however wanted dominance. Well, most anyways. Kagome herself was fighting for equality.

Oh yes, and about Horibuchi Naraku? He's the leader of the Kitarai. He decides how our army is run, who is admitted into Training, and so on. The ruler of Junsuina is Yumiri Keema. Both rather ruthless in their vigorous tactics and ways of war. Still, that was a quality much needed for both side, evening out the chances.

"Kagome!"

"Coming!" cried Kagome, brushing away a cat hair before scampering out of her room, downstairs to the kitchen.

"Morning Mom! Souta."

Souta nodded, his mouth stuffed full at the moment… he didn't realize just how funny he looked, the poor soul, so it made no sense to him when Kagome doubled over with laughter. Their mom just shook her head.

"Souta," she commanded, "Chew and swallow your food before your sister dies from laughing too hard."

He rubbed his head sheepishly, "Sorry Sis…" he mumbled.

"S'ok." She replied, shoving a piece of toast into her mouth.

"Kagome!" scolded her mother lightly, "Don't eat like an animal! How would people react if you ate like that during Training?"

_…Dishonor… that's all that's important here. Honor for the family. I'll do it though, I'll bring honor to this family in place of Father._

"Yes mom." She mumbled softly. "Say, when are we leaving?"

"Oh!" their mother grinned, "I asked the Lyrea's if they could give you a ride, I hope you don't mind. Makes sense though seeing as you and Sango are in the same Training class and so are Souta and Kohaku."

Souta beamed, "Really? Awesome!" He grabbed his plate and glass, dropped them off by the sink, and bounded upstairs to put on his uniform.

"Hah!" grinned Kagome, "So Sango's in my class? And Souta and Kohaku in the same one?"

Her mom lifted her hands in surrender, "Didn't know yet?"

"Nah," Kagome took a final gulp of her tea, "They said we can wait until we're at the Ceremony to find out who we're with this year."

Their mother laughed. "Well you'd have found out sooner or later. Now you go and collect your things, I'll wash the dishes for you." Kagome grinned.

"Thanks!" she took one last bite of her toast and followed her brother's trail up the stairs.

"Brush, books, shoes, pocketknife, Buyou…. Wait. Buyou? No sorry my little neko, you must stay and keep Mom company while Souta and I are off Training." She scooped the cat out of her bag and placed him on her bed.

"Now, I think that's all." She smiled at the small bag. She had long since learned that it didn't help much to have an overstuffed and huge bag… still, she had also learned it was in her best intrest to always have pocky at hand.

With a smirk she reached under her bed and into a shoebox. It appeared to be filled with sporks, but underneath the collected sporks were boxes and boxes of chocolate pocky.

She stuffed most of the pocky into her bag, making it look a little less underfed, along with a few sporks for good measure.

"Ready!" she called, buttoning closed the flap and pulling the bag over her shoulder and bounding down the stairs.

Souta came just moments after, his bag about as small as hers from learning from his older sister's mistakes and advice.

"Kagome, you got your laptop? Remember, you need that this year!" Her mother chuckled, "I wouldn't have given it to you for another year if you didn't." Kagome's eyes went wide and she dashed upstairs a final time.

She was down in moments however, her laptop in hand. "Thanks Mom!" she called, fighting with her bag on if the laptop would fit or not.

"Perhaps you should leave some of the pocky here?" Inquired her mother as she began to hand wash the dishes from that morning.

"Not a chance." Muttered Kagome as she finally managed to fit the computer inside. "Whew! Done." She happily slung the sack over her shoulder.

"Do you know when they'll get here?" Souta asked his mother, but just as she opened her mouth to answer a honk came from outside, signaling that the people of choice were there.

"See ya Mom!"

"Bye Mom!"

Both children rushed to hug their mother goodbye before rushing out the door.

"Both of you better write!" called their mother as she watched them run out to greet their friends.

"Of course!" they replied in unison.

"Hey Kagome!" called Sango with a wave. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a long ponytail, having too much of it to be gathered into a bun as Kagome's. Sango and the leader of their section had fought over it, debating heatedly about Sango's long hair and if she should have it cut shorter.

Of course, in the end, Sango had won and everyone had been allowed to have long hair… well, no longer than their rear that is, obviously he wanted some sort of pride to keep so he had to make sure there were still limits. And those with short enough hair had to have it kept in a bun, if it was too long for that it had to be in a ponytail.

"Hey Sango!" Kagome grinned and hoisted her bag into the trunk before climbing into the vehicle after Sango. Souta and Kohaku followed after, chattering cheerfully about how they'd be in the same class again this year.

"Hey Sango, you have any idea who else is in our class?"

"Nah," she shrugged, "Mom wouldn't reveal any more than that you and I were in the same class no matter how I begged. I even tempted with sweets.."

Kagome blinked, "And that didn't work?" she asked incredulously.

Sango shook her head sadly. "Nope. And no, I didn't bring you anything, sorry." Kagome hung her head.

"I'm crushed." She moaned. "No sweets? How cruel."

Mrs. Lyrea laughed along with her daughter. "Yes yes, Kagome, it is cruel indeed, which is why I brought you some… chocolate." She handed the madly giggling girl a package of chocolate with a grin. "Now you keep that for some special moment 'kay?"

"Yes!" she cooed happily. Sango sighed.

"You spoil her mom, you really do." Mrs. Lyrea beamed.

She immediately took command though. "Alright, we're almost there. The lot of you know right from wrong. Make sure you keep up your studies and train hard, keep in mind you two, Kagome and Sango, that at any moment Horibuchi-sama could call your section out to fight along in the war. As much as I hope it doesn't happen because I don't want you two in harm's way, I can only say that if it does, you two be careful."

The girl nodded seriously and Mrs. Lyrea smiled. "Alright, we're here so all of you be careful and work hard!"

"Yes Ma'am!" chorused the Higurashi while the Lyrea said in unison, "Yeah Mom!"

The four trouped out of the car, each grabbing something out of the trunk and waving to Mrs. Lyrea they all clustered through the glass door of the building they were just dropped off in front of.

The building, or really the place where the Ceremony of Placing is held, was about nine stories high and made of some kind of alloy that was silver in color and obviously well kept, because it shone eagerly in the sunlight, ready to blind any passersby.

The group shuffled down the long hallway, no longer interested in the elaborate mirrors, decorative tables with antique vases, or famous paintings that adorned the pristine white walls. They had only been down this way since they were each of five years.

They halted at a door on the left, and each disappeared inside.

"See ya later Souta!" called Kagome as she and Sango split off to drop off their baggage in the age appropriate section and go join their friends. Souta waved and ran after Kohaku to join his group.

"Yo." Called Inuyasha as he sprawled comfortably in a chair.

"Hey Inuyasha." Said Kagome, "Say, where's Miroku?"

The hanyou shrugged, "Probably chasing after some poor michihiko."

Sango growled, "That lecher! One of these days…" she made a motion with her hands and Kagome winced.

"So anyways!" chirped the young michihiko, eager to draw Sango's mind away from Miroku.

Actually, the three of them, Sango Kagome and Miroku, were all michihiko. A Michihiko is a human who's had their genes genetically altered, but that practice, luckily, had been banned just seven years ago from all the protests from the Junsuina.

Still, the damage had been done and the michihiko had been banned from the Junsuina, having been called impure.

"Hey!" called a voice from behind the trio.

"Miroku," drawled Inuyasha lazily, "What took ya?"

Miroku lifted his hand and feigned innocence, "I know not of what you speak Inuyasha." He turned to Kagome and Sango, "Do you?"

"Nah," Kagome shook her head, "Never have, never will. Sorry."

Inuyasha yelped. "Not true Kagome and you know it!" he sulked in his chair, furry white ears flattening against his silver head.

Sango snorted and took a seat next to Kagome.

"Aw, lighten up Inu," Kagome whispered, prodding him with her finger, "I was just playing around with you. Come on, I know you better than anyone else!" She frowned as he glanced sulkily at her.

"You want your ramen or not?" Immediately he perked.

"Ramen you say? Suppose I can forgive ya." He eyed her. "Where's this ramen you say you have?" Kagome smirked and held out the prize. Sango rolled her eyes. It was true; Kagome did know Inuyasha better than anyone else here. Of course, it might have something to do with them growing up together back when they lived right next to each other. Then Kagome had to move across the city, but still they had remained friends.

Kagome met Sango and Inuyasha met Miroku. When they all finally got to meet the four of them hit it off right away, and that's how it had been ever since. They all managed to have the same class somehow every year too! It would probably be the same this year.

"Hey Kagome," a smooth voice called out. Kagome flinched and Inuyasha snarled.

"Knew I smelled something rotten." Inuyasha complained loudly, "Oh, it's just Kouga." He stood, blocking Kouga's way of getting to Kagome. The wolf wasn't to be deterred though and smiled charmingly.

"So Kagome, how you been?" Kagome returned the smile, though rather half-heartedly.

"I'm fine Kouga, and you?" he flashed her another grin.

"Perfect. You suppose we'll be in the same class this year?"

_Oh Kami-sama, I hope not. Please no…_

"Oh wow! That'd be neat Kouga," chirped Kagome, and Inuyasha gave her a funny look. So did Miroku and Sango.

"Oh wow! Hey Kouga, it's about to start, I'll talk to you later okay?" He beamed.

"Sure thing." And with that he was gone.

"And what was that?" demanded Inuyasha. Kagome sniffed daintily.

"I don't know what you mean." And she settled herself between Sango and Inuyasha, ready to hear just who all would be in her section this year and what instructor they'd have.

The head of this section of Training came to the stage and all the talking and even whispers hushed. He smiled. "Thank you! Another year is here, and I hope you are all eager to begin your Training." Cheering ensued, "And so, I'm now going to present you all with the information you've been dying for since last year's training ended!"

Sango and Kagome exchanged grins.

He had droned on for about ten to twenty minutes when he said something of intrest.

"Myouga's Training class will include Higurashi Souta… Ikeda Rin… Tamasaki Kaede… Wada Hitomi… Tomioka Kanna… and Lyrea Kohaku."

Kagome whooped loudly for her little brother and Sango cheered. Inuyasha shook his head and exchanged smirks with Miroku.

And after that it took about twenty-five to thirty minutes before anything caught their intrest again… Inuyasha had been just about ready to fall asleep with only nudging from Kagome to keep him from doing so.

"Let's see, and Sesshomaru's Training class will include Higurashi Kagome… Takawaki Inuyasha… Lyrea Sango… Kasu Miroku… Ueda Hojo… Dai Kouga… Tamasaki Kikyou… and Taijou My-Linh."

Miroku grinned ear to ear, obviously pleased with the results, Inuyasha's jaw seemed to have dropped to the floor, Kagome and Sango were busy squealing at each other, and everyone could hear Kouga boasting proudly.

"Hey Inu, what's wrong?" asked Kagome, and he glared at her.

"Don't call me that, and what do you think is wrong!" he nearly snarled. Kagome blinked.

"Eh…?"

Inuyasha cracked his knuckles, obviously trying to contain his anger, though what had caused it baffled all of his friends. "Did you hear just who is our instructor?"

The friends exchanged blank looked and Inuyasha groaned.

"He said **Sesshomaru**."

"…Oh." The trio winced and Kagome patted the hanyou awkwardly on the back. "Hey, sorry Inu… um, but maybe with us there it won't be quite so bad?"

He shot her a glare and she quickly retracted her hand. "Stop calling me by that stupid pet name you came up with already!"

Kagome smiled, "Ahaha! Sorry Inu!" she waved her hand airily. Inuyasha stared flatly at Kagome before turning to Miroku and Sango. They just shrugged and he scooted down in his chair, returning to his sulking that he had given up earlier.

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"And that concludes the Sorting. Now, your Instructors will come up and when you hear your Instructor's name he or she will come off stage and you will follow them to your new dorms. They will show you where everything is because, remember, each year group had different dorms, rooms… well, you know." He grinned. "Now…" 

It had hardly been three minutes when the four of them heard "Sesshomaru" clearly.

"Come on!" whispered Kagome as she stood, eager to see the dorms and where the candy machine would be. Of course, the flash of silver caught Kagome's eye, and she was amazing to find that Sesshomaru had grown since she'd last seen him!

He'd always kept to himself so she never got to see him… actually, the few times she did see him she'd thought him really pretty… amazing what age could do to you no less, he could be a model!

"Hey Kagome," drawled Inuyasha, "You gonna stand there all day and oogle my brother or can we get going already?"

Kagome winced… first, she wasn't oogling, and second she could detect anger in that tone…

"I'm NOT oogling!" she huffed and grabbing Sango she hurried to go find the elder of the brothers.

"Feh." Grumbled Inuyasha testily as he and Miroku brought up the rear.

"Glad to see your Training is priority." Said Sesshomaru as the four finally approached. Inuyasha snarled, but Kagome's hand on his chest kept him from actually doing anything.

Sesshomaru turned with an air of aristocratic importance and stalked off, obviously wanting them to follow.

The strange group followed, Hojo in the front, then Kikyou, My-Linh a bit off to the side, then the four plus Kouga who was busy cozying up to Kagome.

"Machines." Said Sesshomaru flatly, raising one hand to point vaguely. Kagome hopped up and down eagerly and squealed softly at the sight of the soda, snack, and candy machines.

"Is there chocolate?" she asked anxiously, trying to peer around the heads of others before them.

"Higurashi," Snapped Sesshomaru, "stop your incessant tactics."

Kagome stopped and blinked at the icy tone of his voice. Kouga stepped before her protectively and Inuyasha snarled.

A silver eyebrow rose at the scene but he merely continued his tour. Inuyasha twitched and made a gesture that showed just Sesshomaru could go do. Kouga took Kagome's hands in his.

"Don't pay that guy any mind, if you want to do that, then you do it." He nodded. He was so close, his hands so warm, chocolate eyes sparkling and gentle, and he smelled really good.

_Oh… this is making me…dizzy…_

"Nng… Kouga…"

He paused mid-speech, "What's wrong Kagome?"

_Woah… two of Kouga… oh look! And three of Inuyasha.. dunno if I could handle that many of him though._

"Kagome!" she could feel that he was shaking her… but why? Kouga was always so sweet, why would he shake her?

Obviously the racket that everyone was making, calling to Kagome, trying to make her respond, drew Sesshomaru's attention.

He took it in rapidly, Kagome's blank expression and limp form, everyone calling her name and immediately strode forward.

"Give her to me." He commanded. Kouga didn't seem to like this idea much though, and merely put one arm around Kagome's shoulders and the other beneath her knees, picking her up easily and with authority of his own he demanded to know where the nearest nurse was.

"Follow." And with that Sesshomaru was off, leading to the nurse with Kouga close behind and everyone else in tow.

"Mm…" mumbled Kagome, leaning her head again Kouga's chest and frowning as if in concentration. "Eh…" she blinked up at Kouga, aware that she seemed to be floating, everything was amazingly blurry, and someone was really close to her.

Training and instinct kicked in and she began to struggle, only able to make out a tan face and long black hair, no one she could think of looked like that.

Sesshomaru turned his head slightly and with a roll of his eyes, took the girl from Kouga despite his protests.

_Tan… and silver.. oh! Inuyasha! Mm… when did… Inu begin smelling this good?_

She relaxed almost instantly, leaning her head against the solid chest presented, inhaling deeply… unconsciousness soon caught up with her though and Sesshomaru was left with Kagome's limp form.

And a few questions as well.

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**KK:** Schwa! _:grins:_ Well? Don't like this chapter much myself and that's **certainly** not the way I planned it to end, but eh, oh well. 

**Seika:** Heheh…

**Sesshomaru:** If you vile excuses for ningen review I'll kill you.

**KK:** _:snorts:_ Sure, sure, whatever Sesshou-kun.

**Kiba:** Hello. If you review I might just get an actual spot in this fan fic. **Review!**


	2. Dorms

_Bringing Honor_

_Dorms_

_By: Kuraii-chan_

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**KK:** Hai-lai-lo! I'm back with the second chapter of BH. _:smiles:_

**Sesshomaru:** I would not carry her ningen carcass.

**Kagome:** Sesshomaru! _:scolds:_ That's not nice!

**Inu:** _:sniggers:_

**Sesshomaru:** Silence! Your insolence will not be tolerated.

**KK:** _:twitches:_ Eh… on with the story!

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**Author Notes:** I do hope everyone is enjoying BH as much as I do just by writing it. _:grins:_

**Disclaimer:** Nah… If I did there would be some _major_ changes…

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**Kisetsu, Japan 3659 Training Center**

"Is she all right?" asked Sango impatiently; ignoring the annoyed look she received from Sesshomaru.

"She will be if you cease your incessant babbling and let me get to the nurse."

Sango crossed her arms over her chest, 'hmmph'ed, and sulkily fell into place between Miroku and Inuyasha.

The elder Takawaki brother gracefully guided the group of eight through corridors, down long hallways, and through multiple doors.

It was amazing how well he seemed to know the place, never once stopping to consult one of the maps that were set out to help lost Trainees find their way back to their dorms.

He strode purposely down one particular hallway, his boots making no sound on the crimson velvet carpet that was adorned decoratively with a pattern of diamonds, squares, circles, and little dots.

He turned right at the fork and after passing about three doors halted abruptly to rap his knuckles importantly against the fourth. It opened right away and the "nurse" presented himself in the doorway.

"What can I do for you?" he asked smoothly, taking in the girl in the Instructor's arms with ease.

Long silky golden hair was pulled back loosely with a bit of ribbon, and his warm azure eyes danced merrily with what gave him of understanding and compassion, but there was something in them that told when it was time to get down to business he could be just as cold and ruthless as Sesshomaru. His uniform was slightly different, although still with the traditional black and silver, there was a small red decoration on the right breast, signaling his profession as a doctor.

"Couldn't seem to hear and somewhat collapsed." Returned Sesshomaru, nodding to the limp form of Kagome.

The doctor carefully took the young michihiko in his arms and turning, he entered the room, placing her on a slim bed.

"You may assign one person to look after the girl, but only one." He said, turning his head to Sesshomaru, "I do not wish this room crowded with well-wishers. The others will see her soon enough."

"Taijou." Barked Sesshomaru, "You will stay with Higurashi. The rest of you follow me." And just as easily has he had appeared, the inu youkai was gone with now only six Trainees following after, three of which were grumbling unhappily at the choice of who would stay with Kagome.

Taijou My-Linh blinked, but assumed her position and sat in the chair next to Kagome quietly.

"I assume you do not know her?" questioned the doctor curiously as he indicated to Kagome.

"No sir. She is Higurashi Kagome, but that is all I know." Answered My-Linh softly so as not to disturb the girl of topic.

"Ah. I've heard many a thing about her, so I was just wondering." He smiled, but soon after his professional mask slipped into place and the warm eyes went dead cold, lips pressed into a thin line.

"Let's see here…" he mumbled to himself, checking her pulse first. It was a little unsteady, but not by much so that wasn't a problem yet. Next the back of his hand was pressed against her forehead.

"Slight fever," the doctor scribbled down something and proceeded to check her eyes, "Pupils have shrunk…"

He tore off the paper he had been scribbling on, tossed it into a wastebasket on the side of a beautiful oak desk with ornate carvings along the legs, a laptop was about the only thing on the desk though with seemingly was there for merely decoration.

He moved to a small cabinet, opened it and drawing slender fingers across multiple labels before settling on one.

"Here we are," he mumbled with satisfaction. Opening the glass bottle he shook two small blue pills into his open palm, carefully shut the bottle and returned it to its former place.

My-Linh watched curiously, could he have been able to tell what was ailing Higurashi so easily and with so few tests?

He strode over to Kagome's side, pills in one hand and a glass of water in the other. The objects were placed on a small bedside table and the doctor gently shook Kagome awake.

"Here," he said offering the pills for her to swallow, "Take these and then a gulp of water."

She nodded mindlessly, popping the small pills into her mouth and then accepting the glass of water she took a few gulps and handed it back without question.

The doctor took the almost empty glass back, "Now rest and you'll feel better when you awake."

The Trainee nodded and lying back down immediately fell asleep.

"Well that was easy." Murmured the doctor happily, and seating himself at the desk began typing away on his computer, obviously logging the new patient and proper information.

"How did you know what was wrong right away?" asked My-Linh suddenly. He chuckled.

"It's not the first time I've seen that ailment. It's actually rather common around here. Occurs from a mixture of stress, heightened senses, and sometimes conflicting emotions. It can be just one of them or all three, that just depends on the person." He shrugged a shoulder. "I don't ask, it's none of my business, but I do advise the patient of the symptoms and how to rid of them."

My-Linh pressed one finger to her lips thoughtfully, "So it doesn't matter what combination of those three problems it is, the treatment is the same?"

"Well, no. Not always. Higurashi here was only at stage one. There are about four stages to my knowledge, one being least severe and four being most severe. There are different treatments for each stage, and the way to tell them apart is by pupil size and heart rate."

"Ah, all right. That makes more sense."

"I'm Hotohori by the way," he smiled, "it's good to see someone interested in this kind of work as well."

"Taijou My-Linh and thank you. I've just thought it a rather interesting profession." She shrugged. "Medicine interests me."

Hotohori tapped his fingers against his desk in agreement, "Yes, which is why I entered this practice and am now the lead doctor for this Training Unit."

"Amazing," marveled My-Linh happily, "Perhaps one day I'll end up just the same. Have you any siblings?"

The doctor shook his head, "No. And you?"

"Hai!" she chirped, "I'm a triplet actually. My brothers Kira and Kiba are serving in the war though, having surpassed in their Training and been specifically asked by Horibuchi Naraku himself. Mother and Father were so proud, and the honor bestowed to our family because of them is wonderful as well."

"Yes," Hotohori nodded somewhat thoughtfully, "I wonder though, why people concentrate so much on honor? How the family name is represented because of this honor or even lack there of? Something I never fully understood. It's like how around a millennia ago it was the same with money. It's almost as if people are infatuated with this _one thing _that will 'prove' or boost your family name."

A smile tugged at My-Linh's lips, "Strange. I'd never thought of it that way. I suppose though… that you are right," she mused a bit, "people are rather infatuated with honor. It means everything for your family's name to have honor and great achievements attached to it, and if there are none, your family name means nothing. Dishonor can ban you from society as well… The whole thing is almost prejudice in a way I suppose."

"Prejudice?"

"Yes… it's like, if you don't have enough family honor you aren't allowed to go places or do certain things, especially if you have dishonor instead of honor attached to the family name. Then you will merely be shunned all together." Hotohori leaned his head on his fist, thinking over what My-Linh had just said.

"Yes, this is true, but would you rather the people be obsessed with honor or money?"

"Honor," she replied instantly, "Money turns those with good morals and much honor greedy and power-hungry."

An eyebrow quirked, "You speak as if you know this from experience."

My-Linh's head bobbed sadly, "I do. My cousin, a very good man may he rest in peace, he died from money. Well, not from the money but from the greed and need for power that came with it. He said that honor didn't matter if you had money and enough of it. That he wouldn't base his life off of honor but money instead.

"He had rather succeeded in profits, but of course, the whole making your living off of money thing has become rather shady, especially when you can't pay up right away to those you owe. He ended up killed by multiple bullet wounds to the body, and I don't think they ever caught the culprit. Not that they really cared much anyways I don't think."

Hotohori shook his head sadly, "I'm sorry. I'll pray for this cousin of yours."

"Me too." Added a rather scratchy voice from right beside My-Linh.

"Oh?" Hotohori looked faintly amused, "And how long have you been awake?"

"Long enough to hear the debate of honor and money. I'm inclined to agree though, honor over money. Because… well, look at what had happened the last time money had been chosen over honor."

All three nodded, they each had been taught of the horrible acts around a millennia ago because of the whole money over honor thing. Innocents killed, widespread of greed, in the end they had almost knocked off the entire human race.

That was what caused the leaders to take back control and prove to the people they reigned over that honor was of greater value than money.

And thus, that is why people were where they are today.

"Thank you Higurashi." Added My-Linh, "For the prayers to my cousin. They mean a lot. You as well Hotohori."

"Call me Kagome, Higurashi is far too formal for two Trainees in the same class, da?" Kagome smiled, trying to lift herself into a sitting position.

"I agree, so then I'm My-Linh." Hotohori quickly left his comfortable sot at his desk and went to Kagome's side, helping her up and propping a few pillows up for her to rest against.

"Thank you sir." Kagome bowed her head slightly.

"No, no, I'm not yet that old," Hotohori chuckled, "Only older than you two by about three or four summers, so call me Hotohori."

"Nn…" the young michihiko yawned and stretched her arms above her head. "Hah! I feel better already! I can't have been out all that long either…"

Hotohori smiled, "I would hope so Kagome. If not then I wouldn't be doing my job properly now would I?" He tilted his head to the side for a moment, "You wouldn't happen to be a michihiko would you?"

Kagome nodded, "Hai. Why do you ask?"

"Curiosity," replied Hotohori with a small grin, "But also because I am one myself."

My-Linh grinned, "Not I! I'm youkai, and Artic kitsune to be exact." Her previously unnoticed tail flitted around of it's own free will. It wasn't quite so long as the one that Sesshomaru was adorned with, perhaps as long as Kouga's, but far more fluffy than the wolf's as well.

"Cute!" Kagome squealed happily. My-Linh laughed softly, gesturing to her tail.

"If you like it so much you'll probably be delighted to find that my brothers, we're triplets, have the exact same tail as me." And she was right.

"That's awesome! When do I get to meet them?" Her eyes sparkled temptingly.

"Sorry but unless our Unit gets shipped out to fight in the war you won't get to."

"Oh, well then I'll just have to meet them either on the battlefield or when the blasted war is finally over." The Trainee seemed so sure of herself that both Hotohori and My-Linh had no doubt that she would indeed.

"Well, as much as I love the company I'm sure you need to get back to Sesshomaru or he'll have my head. Literally." He chuckled, "Now I'm assuming that neither of you have yet to find where your dorms are right?"

He received two vigorous nods.

"Well then I suppose I'll just have to lead you there myself. I just hope no one needs my help while I'm away." He turned to Kagome, "Can you stand yet?"

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and hesitantly got on her wobbling feet, "Slightly."

Hotohori was there in a flash, draping one of Kagome's arms across shoulders while planting his own arm across her waist. "How about now?" She nodded but My-Linh repeated the action just to be sure.

"Thanks you two," Kagome murmured, "Means a lot."

"Not at all Kagome!" My-Linh responded cheerfully, "Now, let's go or His Highness will have our hides."

"Yeah," Kagome agreed happily, "So lets be on our way!"

Hotohori knew the halls as well as Sesshomaru if not better by the look of it. He was able to help the two girls to their dorms with no problem.

"And here we are." He presented the dorms with no more flourish than a nod. "Now I'm not sure which dorms you two will be assigned to you, for only Sesshomaru has access to those for safekeeping matters. So you'll have to check with him on that. Now… they should be here soon, shall I wait with you two?"

He wouldn't have needed to stay however because after just five minutes the group and Sesshomaru appeared, obviously done with the tour and thoroughly confusing the Trainees.

"She's almost completely better Sesshomaru, which might I add is amazing. Most patients have to stay for at least a day before they can walk."

Both Kagome and My-Linh looked absolutely astonished. She had healed that quickly? Why hadn't he said anything about it earlier? And why was Kagome able to get over something so quickly when no one else could? They both knew that he meant michihiko/youkai/hanyou patients, who already were able to heal faster than ningen, but she was able to heal faster than those who were "superior" in that respect too?

Perhaps it was a fluke.

Or… maybe Kagome was more that just an average michihiko.

Sesshomaru took it as he did everything though, giving Hotohori a short nod, "You may go."

Hotohori quirked an eyebrow, but shot a reassuring smile to Kagome and My-Linh as he left.

"All right. Now that _most_ of us have completed the tour dorms will be assigned. Takawaki and Ueda. Kasu and Dai. Higurashi and Taijou. Lyrea and Tamasaki." He eyed the Trainees, "Who you are paired with is who you will be sharing a room with. Do not ask for a room switch, it will not be given unless extreme circumstances are given. Everything clear?"

Collective nods were gathered before Sesshomaru continued, "Takawaki and Ueda, room 956. Kasu and Dai, room 957. Higurashi and Taijou, room 943. Lyrea and Tamasaki, room 944. Boys are in a different hallway than the girls, it will remain as such. Hai, it is possible for everyone to get separate rooms but you may not have them until it is verified that there are in fact enough rooms left to support it. Questions?"

Inuyasha raised his hand, "Yah, define extreme circumstances."

Sesshomaru shot his younger half-brother a flat look. "Disease infecting one of the two."

The hanyou rolled his eyes. "Feh." He muttered, turning to Miroku. "At least you're right across from me."

"Sango!" called Kagome happily, "You'll be right across from me! Oh yes, and this is My-Linh. My-Linh, this is my best buddy Sango." The two of them smiled to each other.

"Taijou My-Linh."

"Lyrea Sango."

"Good!" chirped Kagome happily, "Now that that's outta the way, Sango you can come over anytime you want. You and My-Linh will be good friends, I can tell already."

Sango chuckled, "I sure hope so. It wouldn't be good from me to have permission to come over whenever and have you not like me. Oh! I need to go meet my room mate, I'll see you two later, 'kay?"

"'Kay!" Kagome responded, giving a small wave. "Make sure you come by later!"

"All luggage brought has been placed in your newly assigned room. Girls your hallway is to the right, guys to the left. You may visit the others hallways, I couldn't care less, but you must be in your assigned room by the curfew. Which is ten thirty. If caught after hours, suitable punishment is available."

Everyone nodded and wandered off to find their new rooms.

"Kagome! My-Linh!" the two paused to turn and regard Sango, who was hurrying to catch up with them, a girl in tow. "Figured now would be as good a time as any for you to meet my room mate, Tamasaki Kikyou. Kikyou, this is Higurashi Kagome and Taijou My-Linh."

Kikyou bowed respectively and the girls felt inclined to bow in return.

"It's nice to meet you Kikyou, I'm Kagome!" the young michihiko smiled warmly, "I'll introduce you to the guys later. Did you move here for the war?"

Kikyou nodded, "Hai, my little sister Kaede as well. If I remember correctly your little brother, Souta, and Kaede are in the same Training Unit as well." Kagome beamed happily.

"That's awesome! I'll have to talk to him later about it." She grinned, "So what part of the war made you move here?"

"The Training program here. Mother and Father's untimely demise happened about two summers ago and since then I've had to care for Kaede. I figured if we both had sufficient Training then perhaps we may still bring honor to the family name. This way we also are well cared for at the same time, and I needn't fear for my little sister's safety."

My-Linh looked admiringly at the girl before her, "Wow. I'd heard this was a great program but I didn't know that it had that big of a reputation… amazing. Oh, Kikyou, are you a michihiko? You don't look youkai or hanyou, nor do you have the scent of one."

Kikyou smiled, "Remarkable. Yes, michihiko. I've also been identified as a miko though, and many wonder if I am the Kagi. You know, the one mentioned in Lady Midoriko's prophecy."

They were awestruck. To possibly have the Kagi Training in their midst…

"Don't let it get you're your head though. It is possible I'm not the Kagi, but merely one who is alike. _'The Kagi will be a mix of the fighting sides, possess the purest of hearts, and harbor the ability to once again bring peace to the lands.'_" She quoted softly. "It doesn't say that there can't be more than one of these mixes, just that the Kagi will be one."

"Of course, the Kagi will only be proven as such if he or she carries within them the item. It's been so long since the last Kagi no one is quite sure what the item is anymore. Sad really." Mused Kikyou thoughtfully. "But enough chatter, let us explore the new territory that is ours to destroy."

Sango and Kikyou split off once they had found their room, and My-Linh and Kagome did the same.

"Yes! No more bunks!" cried Kagome, twirling in circles. She tossed her bag that had been neatly placed on the floor onto the bed next to the window. My-Linh was all to happy to capture the bed that was left, only because it was so close to the small kitchen included in every room.

"Sango!" screeched Kagome as she flung open her door. Sango threw open her door and the two of them jumped up and down, giggling madly.

"So there you horrid bunks!" they linked arms and marched up and down the hallway proudly.

My-Linh and Kikyou merely shrugged and went back to unpacking.

Finally the two insane friends admitted they still had more unpacking to do and re-entered their new dorms to finish so they could celebrate later.

"Huzzah!" cried Kagome triumphantly, stuffing her boxes of pocky and select few sporks into the bedside table/stand drawer. She then shuffled off to add her uniforms next to My-Linh's in the closet.

Sliding shut the door to the closet she wandered back over to her bag, grabbed the ribbons for her hair, undergarments, and some spare socks and added them to one of the drawers of the single dresser in the room. She set her brush on the top of the dresser, put her toothbrush and toothpaste on the sink, and finally shoved her now almost-empty bag under her bed.

"Hey My-Linh! You aren't starting dinner are you?"

"Nah!" called the kitsune, "Just checking to see where everything is in this kitchen before I have to start cooking in it."

With a yawn, Kagome undid the buckles of her boots and slid them off, then her socks. Placing them to one side she then happily wiggled her toes and rubbed her feet against the plush carpet.

"Ah, barefoot at last!" she pulled the ribbon away, allowing her hair some freedom and placed the ribbon next to the alarm clock on the night stand next to her bed. They only had to wear their hair up during classes, combat training, and for gathering and assemblies.

"Now!" Kagome started when My-Linh entered the room, "Let's go to Sango and Kikyou's room and see about running over and bothering the boys so we can have lunch, hm?" My-Linh nodded. "Hehe, I still have to introduce you and Kikyou to the guys! This will be fun, our group of four will now be six!"

She got up from her comfy bed and the two of them headed over, collected Kikyou and Sango and headed for the guy's hallways.

All the noise easily signaled the girls which rooms they were staying in.

"AH! Done!" cried a voice that verified itself as Inuyasha. They decided to storm that room first.

"Hey Inu!" called Kagome, and not waiting for a response she opened the door and waltzed right in. She found him relaxing comfortably on his chosen bed. One amber eye opened to see just who was interrupting his nap.

"Oh hey Kagome," he drawled lazily, "What is it?"

"We've come to steal you away and have lunch with us in celebration of no more bunks."

"I dunno…" Inuyasha closed the eye, "It's pretty nice right here, and I'm not sure I'm all that hungry."

"Inuuuuu," Kagome pleaded, "come on! I haven't seen you in _forever_ and you just want to sleep."

"Yep, that sounds about right." He rolled to one side, his back facing Kagome.

_Ooooh, that little--… well no matter. He'll come like it or not._

"Inu you're coming." Kagome said flatly.

"Not."

She reached over and pulled him back over so she could see his face again. "Are."

"Not." He stuck his tongue out and smirked. "I'd like to see you try and make me."

"Alright." The girl grinned mischievously, and getting up onto the small bed, sat herself on his stomach. "I can do that."

Inuyasha flinched visibly, his eyes opened and bulging. "No Kagome, please no… anything but that."

Kagome just shook her head, "You said…"

"Forget what I said," pleading the hanyou piteously, "Come on Kagome… pleeease?"

"Um…" the thought about it for a second, "yah… no."

And without further ado she proceeded to tickle him mercilessly.

Hojo, who had seemingly heard all the commotion, came in from the kitchen and turned scarlet.

"U-um, hey Kagome." He said shyly.

Kagome paused her tickling to regard Hojo, "Hey yourself!" she chirped.

"Err, Kagome is Inuyasha all right?"

"Um…" Kagome looked down and regarded the hanyou beneath her, "Probably not."

Just then Sango, who had grown tired of waiting and fetched Miroku from his room, entered.

"Wow Kagome… how kinky. Didn't know you were like that." Observed Miroku thoughtfully. Sango whacked him on the head.

"It's not like that you hentai!" snapped Sango impatiently, "Can't you see that she's tickling him for something?"

"Refusing to come," added Kagome helpfully.

"See?" Sango huffed, "My point exactly."

Miroku rubbed his head and winced, "All right, I give! Just no more hitting."

Kagome turned back to Inuyasha, "Now, you want me to continue or will you surrender and come peacefully?" She poked one side for emphasis and watched him squirm.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'." Growled Inuyasha, "Now get your heavy carcass offa me so I can get up."

"Deal!" Kagome hopped off and helped Inuyasha, paying no mind to his groans and complaints.

"And off we go! Lunch is it!" cried Kagome happily as she, Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, My-Linh, and Kikyou trooped out of the room and off to find food, leaving Hojo to relish in the fact that Kagome had just been in this very room with him.

* * *

**KK:** Schwa! And another chapter finished!

**Kagome:** Why are the chapters for BH longer than any of your previous stories?

**KK:** Err… not sure, why?

**Shippou:** Why am I not in the same Training class as my friends!

**KK:** _:runs and locks self in room:_

**Inuyasha:** Wait, so I don't get Kagome in this one either?

**KK:** Nah, and I'm being pitying and sticking you with Kikyou. For this ONE though. Don't anyone _ever_ expect it again.

**Kikyou:** What have I done to you?

**KK:** Don't you even get me started, there is too many things to list.

**Kouga:** Well damn, I'm not with Kagome either.

**Miroku:** And I'm with Sango! _:fondles the taijiya's rear:_

**Sango:**_ :slaps the monk: _Grr… so review already.


	3. Courses

_Bringing Honor_

_Courses_

_By: Kuraii-chan_

* * *

**KK:** Bwahah… yes I'm back with more!

**Seika:** Can't imagine why…

**Inu:** Jeeze, quit fighting already and get to the damn story.

**KK:** Inu… you even take that tone with me again and I'll fry you.

**Inu:** Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try!

**Kagome:** Osuwari!

_**Bam!**_

* * *

**Disclaimer: **If I owned them, would I honestly be just sitting here writing fanfics about the characters when I could put my ideas to actually good use? Shoot, if I owned them I wouldn't even be sitting _here_!

**Author Notes:** Yes, this chapter won't have all that much action in it, but filler chapters are always needed before the fun can begin, da? Exactly. Therefore, you may read this one and enjoy a slightly more interesting chapter next time!

* * *

**Kisetu, Japan 3659 Training Center**

The group entered the mess hall noisily, Miroku and Inuyasha arguing over the war, My-Linh and Kikyou sharing past experiences, and Sango and Kagome speaking loudly so as to be heard above the others about their upcoming lessons.

It made quite a funny scene actually when they all stepped in only to find it eerily quiet with every eye suddenly averted to them.

Shaking off his embarrassment first, Inuyasha sauntered over to the counter and took his tray eagerly. Soon enough they all followed, sticking together as if terrified sheep being lead by the dog. No pun intended of course.

Soon enough, they were all seated at a long table and chatting happily amongst themselves.

"So Kikyou, My-Linh what lessons are you signed up for?"

Kikyou smiled, "I know in the middle of a war during _this_ era it isn't needed, but I'm training in hand-to-hand combat, along with healing."

"I'm training in 'long distance gunning' as they call it. I like to just say its sniping, along with hand-to-hand." My-Linh added.

Kagome grinned, "Amazing. I'm piloting and healing." Sango smirked and she rolled her eyes, "And Sango is doing the advanced programming class in addition to the one we already have, along with piloting."

Inuyasha, who had been eavesdropping once his conversation died chimed in, "I'm doing piloting and sniping." He beamed proudly, ears twitching slightly on his silver haired-head.

Miroku shook his head, "I'm taking the advanced programming as well and hand-to-hand."

Kagome sipped her tea slowly, swilling the cool drink around her mouth a few times before swallowing it. "Do you think they'll send us out to battle this year?"

Inuyasha, who was taking a bite of his toast at the time, grinned baring his half-chewed food for all to see. "I hope so, we could do with some excitement. We've just been sitting here for this long already, its time we actually got up and did something to help the war."

Kagome grimaced, "Inuyasha, don't talk with your mouth full. It's disgusting really."

Sango blanched and Kikyou looked like she was going to be sick. My-Linh however, having had two brothers with her her whole life seemed unfazed.

"I agree with Kagome on this one," agreed Miroku, wincing as Inuyasha opened his mouth fully in rebellion, showing off the semi-chewed toast and something else that was quite unidentifiable.

"Cease your childish behavior Inuyasha," snapped a commanding, and all too familiar voice.

Inuyasha's amber eyes got wide as he tried to swallow and shout at the same time, resulting in his choking on the only partially chewed food.

Kagome clamped her hand down over her mouth in an attempt to keep from laughing outright at the youngest Takawaki brother's _interesting _predicament.

Miroku patted Inuyasha on the back, looking ready to crack up as well.

"Disgusting," snorted Sesshomaru, peering coldly at his half-brother. "And shameful to be related one so barbaric." The elder Takawaki brother shook his head and strode off, apparently unsatisfied with the results he had found at their table.

"Sesshomaru!" croaked Inuyasha at last; "You want to say that to my face?"

No one bothered to point out that he was long gone, or that Sesshomaru had **already** said it to his face. It was just something that didn't need saying at the moment.

"So anyways," continued Kagome once she had regained control, as if the whole incident had never happened, "Who do you think is going to win the war? Its been waging since well before we were born and it doesn't look like there is an end in sight, despite the fact that at the beginning it looked like the Junsuina were going to win…"

Miroku sighed heavily, "Inuyasha and I were talking about that earlier. Despite the Avaka Tragedy helping the Junsuina, it really doesn't look like either side is in favor right now. And of course, because of the Avaka most of the Kitarai are furious with nothing but bloodlust on their minds."

"Which will cloud their judgment on important affairs and strategy." Picked up Sango, "And of course, that will just be playing into their hand and tipping the scale in their favor once more."

My-Linh looked doubtful however, "Lord Horibuchi would never let such things cloud our mind and get in the way of our ultimate goal. Lord Yumiri may be smart, but I think Lord Horibuchi is smarter. If you think about it, it only makes sense otherwise we would have long since fallen." She looked around the table before continuing, "I think Lord Horibuchi has seen Lord Yumiri's plan for what it is, and **that** is why we've made no advances since then. He's waiting for the opponent to slip up in his arrogance and deal the fatal blow then."

Everyone looked stunned, contemplating this new idea over in their minds. Testing it, seeing if it would indeed be a wise idea. Kikyou was the first to speak.

"I suppose it's possible, what gave you the idea?"

My-Linh smiled sheepishly, "My father was one of the leading war generals at Avaka at the time of the attack. Whenever he was able to come home he would quiz my brothers and I, trying to sharpen our minds to the concept and thought process of war. To what we would need to know when we finally entered battle ourselves. He thought it important to be able to see the enemies plan for what it was and find a way to counter it."

Inuyasha snapped his fingers and grinned, "I knew it! I knew the name Taijou sounded familiar! My father, Takawaki Inutashio, and yours worked together at Avaka."

My-Linh looked slightly startled, but smiled. "That's a nice surprise. I do remember the name Inutashio, but he never told us that his last name was Takawaki." She chuckled softly, "He always called him Tashio-baka, but we could tell they were good friends."

Kagome finished off her tea and set down the cup with a content sigh. "Yum." Eagerly she set to finishing her toast and onion soup, a task greatly welcomed since all she's had for breakfast was toast. It was understandable though, the ongoing war was finally taking its toll on the citizens, making them have to use ration cards to supply their food, and even then it was only a limited amount. Kagome could see it in her own household, despite her mother's attempts to look as if nothing were wrong.

Inuyasha and Miroku had started talking about their classes now, leaving the depressing talk of war and the Avaka Tragedy for another time. Sango had gone to see if she could get a refill of onion soup and My-Linh and Kikyou were now speaking of the Prophetess Midoriko.

Which allowed Kagome to let her mind wander.

The Avaka Tragedy. War. The fast dissipating food supply. Kitarai against Junsuina. All of it was just so frustrating!

Surely Japan could get along fine without a ruler until the next heir was found? But then… apparently not seeing as that was what had started this whole war. Because of the lack of rulers, Japan had spilt in two, electing Horibuchi Naraku and Yumiri Keema because of their profound military experience and polar opposite interests for the land.

All Kagome was fighting for however, was not dominance, but for equality. Equality where it could not longer be found, between those holy, and those demon, those ningen, and those 'exceptional' ningen. Peace needed to be found within these conflicting races, or they would slowly tear each other apart with the strong sense of racism.

A time like this had occurred before, Kagome had heard, but instead it was racism between ningen for their skin color. Now it was for the actual race of the people, and their abilities. It made no sense to fight a pointless battle as this, striving to overpower one another when a truce could be met.

But then… when had war ever had a point? Always the same useless bloodshed when such things could be avoided. Broken truces and sneaking around when all you had to do was abide by your promises. Mindless fighting that only resulted in the death of those fighting for what they think is right and innocents who either couldn't or wouldn't involve themselves in such things.

War could turn the most gentle of people into bloodthirsty mad beings.

All in all, it was a truly ugly time that brought out the worst in people. And just think of how many lives could be saved if people tried to work it out instead of brashly rushing in with their weapons.

_Has there ever been a time of true peace among **all** the lands?_

It was also this fruitless war that had sparked the Avaka Tragedy. Which, oddly enough, had been prophesied by Midoriko-sama.

She had foretold of an oncoming war that would split the nation in two equally strong forces. That of this would come great loss and destruction. There would, however, be the appearance of the _Kagi_. This person alone would be a mix of the opposing sides, hold the purest of hearts, and possess the ability to once again bring peace to the land.

All right, so she hadn't specifically said it to be the _Kagi_, but did however say it to be the one who was so sought after… or something along those lines. It had been a while since Kagome had first learned all of this, so everything was a bit fuzzy.

But… Midoriko had prophesied all this around a hundred years ago, and when Kagome had been introduced to Midoriko in her studies the idea of learning about a long-dead prophetess with a long-winded prophecy just lacked certain appeal.

Of course, she regretted not paying closer attention now that she may just have the _Kagi_ in her midst.

And then there was the decrease in the food supply. Regrettably their main food supply had been stocked in Avaka, and after the Avaka Tragedy… well; there just wasn't that same food supply anymore.

So the Junsuina had scored major there with their attack, but somehow it hadn't truly affected anyone just yet. There was still food on the side of the Kitarai, but it would soon be gone and the Junsuina would win and wipe all the Kitarai off this planet.

But of course, the same could be said for the Kitarai should they end up victorious. Either that or they'd enslave all the Junsuina.

… Somehow neither side held much appeal. Which is why the appearance of the _Kagi_ was so greatly needed now more than ever. Needed to cease this nonsense and put people back in their places.

Kagome had faith however that the _Kagi_ would make its appearance when the time was right. She wasn't sure why she would take faith in such a feeble thing, but she did. It was reassuring to know that help was on the way, even if many had given up the hope already.

But was the power to make such an impact held within Kikyou or another? As Kikyou had said earlier, there were others out there who were mixes of the two sides. A few had even been so bold as to claim themselves as the _Kagi_, but their lie failed when they were unable to open the great doors to the palace made for the _Kagi_.

Even after these hundred years the palace had been well maintained in hopes that our savior would soon appear and take up residence. However such a miracle had yet to happen, so it was empty with the exception of those select ones assigned to guard and maintain the palace.

"Kagome."

Kikyou was fit to be the _Kagi_ as far as Kagome could tell however. She was a mix as both a michihiko and miko, one of the qualities needed, she seemed pretty kind and pure-hearted for what little she had known her, and then of course she'd need to be able to solve disputes.

"Kagome?"

As far as Kagome could think though, Kikyou would be perfect as the _Kagi_. Of course, she'd need to be able to assess the demands of the people and take action to keep the peace, but surely she'd be able to do it.

Kagome had faith in Kikyou as well.

"Kagome!"

She couldn't even imagine what it would be like to be _Kagi_. To have all that responsibility placed solely on your shoulders. It also required the _Kagi_ to be strong apparently, to keep from cracking under such pressure.

"**KAGOME!"**

"Eek!" squeaked Kagome, snapping out of her thoughts to look dazedly around at her friend's worried faces.

Miroku sighed with relief and smiled, removing his hand from right in front of her face. "Don't do that again Kagome, you had us all worried. It was almost like you were in a trance or something."

"Feh." Muttered Inuyasha, "I wasn't worried. She's too thick-headed to let anything like that get to her."

"Look who's talking," grumbled Kagome good-naturedly under her breath before smiling cheerfully and going on before Inuyasha could protest. "No need to worry about me, I was just thinking is all!"

Sango shook her head and grinned weakly, "Thinking? Amazing Kagome, we called your name like… a lot. Miroku even snapped his fingers right in front of your face and you didn't so much as bat an eye."

Kagome looked astonished. "Really? I did that? Amazing… I bet I'd be good at meditating!" she chuckled before taking one last sip of her soup and standing.

"Well I'm full how about the rest of you?"

Everyone nodded and collected their items, and once again in that protected group shuffled to the drop off belt. Leaving their food tray, cup, bowl, and spoon on the belt they watched their eating utensils be carried away before Kagome turned cheerfully back to her companions.

"All right! Now what should we do?"

Miroku, with a mischievous glint in his eyes, spoke up, "I think that we should—"

He never got to finish though because at that moment a speaker crackled to life.

**"All Trainees under Takawaki Sesshomaru, please report to the Auditorium where the Sorting was held earlier today, I repeat…"**

Inuyasha scowled, "Aw, what does he want _now_?"

Kagome swatted at Inuyasha, "Come on, lets go." The entire group shuffled for the door, not in any real hurry to be there… until once again the speaker crackled to life, this time with Sesshomaru as the one delivering the message.

**"Those who are not down here in two minutes will have extra chores and triple the workout to do, starting now."**

They exchanged wide-eyed looked and all began sprinting, ignoring the cries of protest from the workers about no running.

**_A minute and thirty-eight seconds later…_**

Everyone arrived panting heavily as the door bust open and six Trainees piled in, shoulders heaving from darting sharply around all those corners and running down the long halls, and even the stairs.

Sesshomaru smirked.

"Very good. Now that everyone is here, take a seat and we shall begin going over your schedules and courses for this year."

The six plopped heavily into their chairs while everyone else merely sat, not having needed to exert themselves by running.

_Ohhhh… I think I'm going to be sick. Running on a full stomach right after you eat isn't the brightest idea._

Sesshomaru stood onstage before them and looked at his class of Trainees.

"As you all know, this year it _is_ possible for us to be shipped out to help in the war, therefore in addition to your Training in combat here, this years Training will be far more straining and demanding of you so that you are ready to fight at a moment's notice.

"You had five choices last year to choose from for your two extra classes; Hand-to-hand combat, long-distance gunning, piloting of the aircrafts, healing and medication, and advanced programming. I trust everyone selected wisely to what they are best suited for and have most knowledge of." He glanced coolly at the group of eight before him.

"This year you will have six classes a day, consisting of four main classes and your two selected classes. Regular classes that you have no say in are History, Geography, Programming, and Code.

"Hopefully you all know what each of your main classes but should you not History is so you are not incompetent with what the previous dealings of the land you are fighting for. Geography so you know the land better than anyone. Programming so you are able to know what you are doing in any circumstance with your necessary equipment. Code will allow you to speak with others without fear of giving anything away to the enemy."

Everyone nodded as he paused, having had this explained to them before.

"Good. Now, you all know your extra classes help you in areas of your expertise and what you excel in. Hand-to-hand will give you the advantage, but only if you are physically fighting with your opponent. Long distance gunning will only be useful if your target first off doesn't know your location, and if they are within firing range. Piloting will be useful only in aircrafts. Healing can only be used on injured people, bringing the dead back simply isn't possible by the way. And advanced programming can only be useful to you if you are in front of a computer or some programmable device.

"Along with its advantages each skill has a disadvantage, as I just explained. Rest assured, there are other disadvantages, but I won't go into detail and explain them all, as you should already know about your course. Now, your schedules will go like this, with six periods in a day as I've already said.

"Your first period will be your first extra class to get you awake for the rest of the day. Second period will be Geography with me, third Code with Tsukasa-san. You will have your lunch after third period before attending your second extra class as fourth period. Fifth period will be Programming with me, before sixth as History with Tsukasa-san."

Sesshomaru looked at his Trainees to make sure they were still with him.

"Now, you **will** get a piece of paper with your schedule on it. It will be slipped under your door tonight for you to retrieve tomorrow, get your breakfast, and attend your first class at nine am sharp. Your sensei will dismiss you when class is over; you may not leave before then unless there is emergency. Notice Tsukasa-san and I are your two main teachers, this is how it will remain. It is highly doubtful that either of us will become sick, so should someone show up claiming to be the substitute you need to demand proof and verification." He paused for a moment, "That is all, you are dismissed."

He exited the stage, this clicking of his boots fading down the hallway as we were left to our own devices. We weren't going to be babied and were expected to make the right choices in order to stay on top at this age.

Kagome stood and stretched slowly, "Lovely. Nothing we didn't already know." She turned to her friends with a grin. "Well… we have-" one quick glance at her watch, "two hours until dinner, and four until the time that is recommended for sleep, what should we do?"

Sango shrugged, "Dunno."

"Well…" Inuyasha began before shaking his head, "nah, never mind."

All eyes trained on him he grinned, "Well what I was going to say was…"

* * *

**KK:** So sue me, it's shorter than the others. But I told you it was a filler chapter with information for everyone so they can better understand. And since so many took to Tsukasa when he made his first appearance in YAYACSM I thought he should have a sturdy role here. :D I hope everyone's happy with that.

**Kagome:** Inuyasha? And idea? Is it even possible?

**Inuyasha:** Kagome!

**Kagome:** o.o;; Um… back away Inuyasha before I say it… is that a pair of scissors in your hand!

**KK:** Kagome, just say it. He's a hanyou so he'll live.

**Kagome:** Osuwari!

_**Thunk**_

**Sango: **_:shields Shippou's eyes: _Uhm… Kagome, did you just do that?

**Kagome:** Ah, hahaha! Of course not, he uh, fell… WHILE RUNNING WITH SCISSORS OR SOMETHING!… _:runs away:_


	4. A strange beginning

_Bringing Honor_

_A strange beginning_

_By: Kuraii-chan_

* * *

**KK:** I'm back! Thank you to all those who reviewed, yall really inspire me! If not for you… well, I wonder if I would ever finish anything? 

**Kagome:** Probably not.

**KK:** Yeah… especially since just to sit down and type up a chapter I need to go back and reread the last one, and then get all my spirals which bits of information in them set up for me to flip through as I need.

**Seika: **It's a funny sight really…

* * *

**Disclaimer:** One day I wanted ice cream. So I called up my friends, and we all headed down town to a mall to get ice cream. While we were there, I spotted a movie playing I really wanted to see. So we went and saw it, and I got lots and lots of butter on my popcorn. And a large Dr Pepper, because that's my favorite I don't own Inuyasha drink. Then we watched the movie, and I thought it was great. I even cried during the movie! But everyone else said it was a let down. Oh well. Then we went and played some games at the arcade and I got my ass kicked at DDR. And then we went home and I called them up later just to talk. 

There was a disclaimer somewhere in that pointless and obviously made up story.

**Author Notes: **I hope this chapter is funny enough to help with the absolutely boring chapter before it. Enjoy!

**Also:** The prophecy has been changed since chapter 2; therefore things like Kikyou's reciting are now incorrect. (but not SUPER incorrect, only the last part) I WILL go back and change them when I can. This will in _no way_ affect the story, especially not as of now. _**Thank you**._

* * *

**Kisetu, Japan 3659 Training Center**

"Mm… pocky… snore… NO MY POCKY!… snooooooore… pockypockypocky…"

My-Linh's eye twitched. Well, she could fix this problem…

Carefully, she grabbed a pot and filled it with water. What was she going to do with this water? Well you see… had a brilliant idea.

_**Splash!**_

Dump it on the snoring person.

"EECK!" Cried a now, very wet michihiko. "My-Liiiiiiinh!" She whined, looking very much like a drowned rat. Or something.

"Oops. Did I do that?" My-Linh hid the pot behind her back, "Hm, sorry Kagome! But at least you've stop snoring and muttering very loudly about pocky in your sleep, yes? Now go shower… or whatever." She waved her hands in a shooing motion.

"Nyeh." Muttered Kagome, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands as she groggily exited her formerly comfortable bed. "You'd better be changing out my sheets and everything for that, since you've more or less ruined them now." She glanced over at her bedside clock. Great, it was six in the morning.

Grabbing a fluffy towel she exited the room and shuffled down the hallway, dimly registering that she didn't even bother to grab her fuzzy slippers, but that all the same it really wouldn't matter. The maintenance crew here was like… obsessive here about their job, so there was not really any chance she could step on something potentially harmful.

Kagome stumbled into the cleaning room, feeling almost giddy at the sight of the showers… but well, it was too early and she just wasn't awake yet. A nice hot shower could fix that of course.

She placed the towel on the stool next to the shower's sliding door, and hurried to start the water so she could clean up faster. While waiting for the water to warm up, she began to look through the arrangements of shampoos and body washes…

All they had was plain, unscented stuff. Ah well, she was sure they'd stock some with scented ones later, they always did. And she always favored the vanilla body wash and the raspberry shampoo.

With a shrug she grabbed some stuff and wandered back over to her shower to test the water.

Perfect.

Shedding her pajamas and undergarments she stepped into the shower, grinning in delight. She reached over and got a handful of the shampoo, rubbing it thoroughly into her hair and scalp before letting the running water cascade over the raven locks and clean them of the solution.

Next Kagome grabbed another handful of conditioner and worked it into her hair before turning to the body wash. With a scrubber, she worked the lather all over until her skin seemed to glow a soft pink. Satisfied that she was clean, Kagome then rinsed the conditioner out of her hair and turned off the water.

Ringing the excess water from her hair, Kagome opened the slide and grabbed the towel, using it to try off before wrapping it around her body to cover… well, yanno… certain places.

Humming something that was undecipherable, probably because she was so off key, Kagome gathered her clothing and folded them into a small bundle that was easier to carry, she turned to greet whoever was entering the shower room.

And her eye twitched as they and she stared blankly at one another.

"**PERVERTS!"** Kagome cried, reaching for the nearest thing and throwing it at the unsuspecting crowd.

"Hey!" cried out Inuyasha, Kouga, Miroku, and Hojo as they realized they were under attack. _"Kagome!"_

But said girl only squeaked indigently, and proceeded to throw her now-empty shampoo, conditioner, and body wash bottles. One of which got Miroku right between the eyes.

"GET OUT!" She cried, pitching the stool she had previously been using to hold her towel, which hit Inuyasha in the head. "OUT, OUT, OUT!"

"KAGOME! THIS IS THE- oof!" And Kouga promptly learned that soap _does not_ in fact taste good.

Kagome was just about to throw the decorative ceramic bowl since they couldn't seem to just take the hint and _leave_, when a hand wrapped around her wrist in surprisingly firm grip.

Eyes wide, her head whipped around only to have to crane up to actually see the face of the perverts' protector.

Uh oh.

Sesshomaru looked down at her with one of his black expressions, but that wasn't the only thing on her mind. Oh no, she was fully aware that she was nearly pressed up against him… and that he was wearing no more than a towel, just as she was.

_And… he is nicely defined too… ooh- NO! WAIT! Baaaad train of thought right there. Best to be buried and forgotten about._

Flushing, probably to her toes, Kagome wrenched herself free, set down the bowl, and bolted.

All the males sighed in relief (except for Sesshomaru of course), and a silence fell over everyone.

Kouga coughed. "So… Kagome looks good in only a towel."

Inuyasha's eyes widened considerably, to the point Miroku thought they might simply fall out, and a blush began to spread across his face.

"Pervert!" He hissed hitting Kouga upside the head with the empty shampoo bottle Kagome had previously thrown at them.

Miroku nodded slightly in appreciation, but not so much as to attract Inuyasha's eye and bring upon himself a beating from the hanyou.

Everyone paused whatever they were doing, as there was a loud thump of a body hitting the ground.

Hojo was passed out on the ground from what looked like a very large nosebleed.

… Nice.

* * *

Kagome sighed, staring listlessly down at her toast. 

"What's wrong?" Sango poked her friend.

"Hm?" She looked up, blinking.

"Spill. Obviously something happened, and we want to know." My-Linh and Kikyou nodded, agreeing with the blunt michihiko.

"Um… well, I wasn't really awake this morning, even if My-Linh _did_ dump water on me, and I… um… thinkIwenttotheboysshowerroom?" She flushed and poked gingerly at her toast, lowering her bangs to cover her eyes.

There was a moment of silence before…

"Bwahahah!" Kagome blinked. They were laughing…

_Well DUH Kagome, what did you **think** they were going to do? Disown you forever? Yeah, right._

"Um, that's not all." My-Linh hurriedly silenced everyone and leaned in to hear.

"Well, you see… I was finished and about to leave when Miroku, Inuyasha, Hojo, and Kouga walked in. And I kind threw random bathing products, and a stool, at them. I almost got to throw one of those pretty bowls they keep in the shower rooms, but um, Sesshomaru appeared out of nowhere and kind of stopped me before I could."

Sango grinned, "Nice. Oh look, and speak of the devils. **Over here boys!**"

A disgruntled looking Inuyasha and Miroku flopped into some seats. Both seemed to be sporting new bruises, and only Miroku flashed a grin.

"By your smiles, I assume Kagome told you what happened today." He chirped helping himself to the toast he had gotten in the breakfast line. "Don't worry Kagome-chan, no hard feelings."

Sango peered at him suspiciously, "Miroku, you'd better not just be saying that because you got to see Kagome in only a towel."

Miroku looked up and blinked innocently, biting off the corner of his toast. "Me? Lil ol me? I would never…"

Kagome looked up from her toast she was nibbling on to glare at Miroku.

"What? I didn't do anything!" He smiled at everyone, muttering _'Hojo's the one that passed out, not me' _under his breath. Inuyasha, who was the only one who caught it, choked on his food.

Everyone looked over at the hanyou, and with a deep blush he offered a small grin. "Just thinkin' about how Fluffy is gonna be so pissed when he finds what we did last night." The group of friends chuckled, all silently praying to Kami-sama that he wouldn't be able to discover the culprits.

Kikyou, having been silent nearly the entire time, stood. "Come, it is almost time for classes to start. Who among us wants to feel Sesshomaru-sensei's wrath?" There was a round of grumbling, but everyone agreed and reluctantly stood.

"I'm headed to piloting, who's coming with?" Kagome grinned. Sango and Inuyasha rose.

"I am," they chorused, causing everyone to giggle. Except for Inuyasha and Miroku, because that would hurt their 'manly' pride. So I suppose they just laughed. Or something.

"Well I'm going to hand-to-hand. Anyone coming?" Miroku asked, finishing off the last of his breakfast.

Surprisingly, the last of their group, Kikyou and My-Linh, were also going there.

"That's great!" Kagome smiled, "We've only split into two groups! Oops, but we'd better get going…"

* * *

Upon arrival a small girl who looked remarkably close to their own age had greeted everyone with a smile. Her shoulder-length brown hair was swept back in a ponytail, and he had large brown eyes. 

"Welcome to piloting, I will be your teacher/instructor. My name is Natizuma, and I would prefer you call me as such. You may be wondering why I look about as old as you. The truth is, that I am. I've been taught in the art of piloting since I was about four years old, and quickly surpassed everyone of my own age and older under the tutoring of my father." With a small smile, she looked around. "Now I have to take roll as it is mandatory, just acknowledge your name with a simple 'here'. Lyrea Sango?"

"Here." Sango lazily raised her hand and Natizuma nodded without looking up.

"Ueda Hojo?"

"Here." Kagome blinked as his timid voice met her ears. How had she not noticed that he was in this class as well?

"Higurashi Kagome?"

"I'm here."

"And Takawaki Inuyasha?"

"Here." The hanyou grunted.

"All right!" Natizuma looked up with a smile, heading over to put the attendance sheet up for whoever would come and collect it. "Originally I was going to have you study out of your books a bit, but Sesshomaru-sama insisted we begin hands-on as soon as possible in order to be prepared should Lord Horibuchi call your class out to battle. And after reviewing your reports I see that you have all studied out of the book so much I'm sure you could recite the thing by memory. Therefore we are going to be heading out to the field today to have the hands-on experience that Sesshomaru-sama was talking about."

The small class cheered, delighted at the prospect.

"Well good. Now-" but she was cut off as the door to the classroom was flung open and a very pissed looking Sesshomaru entered, his golden eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Which of you," he hissed, his eyes landing on Inuyasha immediately, "Dared so much as to enter my room, much less have the **audacity** as to dye my clothing _pink_?"

Everyone's eyes widened, though Hojo was the only one who was finding this out. The other three were indeed guilty, but luckily were not in danger of laughing… as Sesshomaru looked ready to kill everyone on the spot.

The demon advanced upon his half-brother slowly, which was just as threatening as it would have been should he have used his superior speed to advance without anyone being able to see it.

Inuyasha looked defiantly up at his brother, "I didn't do it if that's what you're implying." He huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, "And you've no proof, so quit tryin' to blame everything on me."

Sesshomaru smiled… in a way that was not only utterly terrifying, but promised certain death should he find a way to prove it.

"Proceed," was all he said before the door slammed shut and he was gone.

Even Natizuma looked a bit shaken, but she quickly resumed her authority.

"All right, well come on. We've only got so much time before you move on to your next class, and I want everyone to get as much out of this as they can."

Everyone followed their teacher out to the piloting fields.

"Now! We're not starting off with anything big, but I do want to stick our feet in the water before we dive in. Just to test so I can determine your strengths and weaknesses and work with everyone individually from there. I do hope no one minds. Now, who wants to demonstrate first?"

When no one offered she sighed, "All right, I'll pick… lets see. Higurashi Kagome, you're up."

Kagome grinned, "All right. Just tell me what you want me to do."

"All right," encouraged by Kagome's easy nature she pointed out an aircraft. "You'll be working with Enyu today. Of course, I'm picking purely from what you look like you'd be best suited for so I may have to switch everyone around later. And either way, you must be able to use any type of aircraft in cases of emergency."

"Can do!" Kagome grabbed a helmet and eagerly climbed up into the cockpit, delighted with her first day back at Training already.

"_Kagome, can you hear me?"_ Natizuma's voice came across the speaker as her face slowly popped up on the viewing screen.

"Hai," the young michihiko responded. "Give me a moment to adjust."

Now seated with everything in place, Kagome looked around familiarizing herself with Enyu. She quickly brought up the main screen, modifying everything to suit her needs with easy skill and provision. She wasn't a michihiko for nothing.

"Ready sensei."

"_All right. Fire her up."_

Kagome reached over, flipping the main switch and watching everything slowly come to life in various colors of the coded options. She settled back into her seat, making sure she was securely fastened, before grinning.

"_Good. Now, take her up."_

Kagome slowly pushed the lever forward, and felt the aircraft, Enyu, begin down the runway, gaining speed. Finally when she felt she was going fast enough, she grabbed another lever with her other hand and pulled it back toward her.

A familiar rush sent shivers racing down her spine as Kagome ascended higher and higher until she reached the standard amount of kilometers off the ground. There she waited for a moment for further instructions.

_"Perfect. Wonderful job Higurashi, I'm afraid due to time constraints however you must land so we can fit everyone in. Tomorrow we'll go further though, I promise. Please descend."_

Oh well. Could have been worse.

She turned Enyu around and began her descent, unable to help going a lot faster and at a sharper angle than she should have.

Flipping the switch off, Kagome exited the aircraft, grinning as she took off the helmet.

"Sorry Sensei," Kagome amended as she received a sharp look from Natizuma. "I would promise not to do it again, but I probably will."

That coaxed a smile from Natizuma, and Kagome couldn't help but return it.

"All right, fine. You did a wonderful job anyways, even with that little stunt of yours, so I'll let you off. This time." Kagome nodded, happy to get away without any kind of punishment.

"Next up is… Lyrea Sango. Lets see… I want you on Yui."

Sango nodded, accepting the helmet from Kagome before sauntering off to her assigned aircraft.

And so it went, until everyone had gone. All had done exceptionally well, and Natizuma seemed impressed and pleased.

"Well done everyone. Tomorrow we'll be seeing what else you can do up there, and already it looks promising. All of you have done wonderfully and have been amazingly well behaved." She tucked a strand of chocolate hair behind an ear. "I'm looking forward to working with all of you. That will be all and class is dismissed. The bell should be ringing sometime soon, I hope that until then none of you will do anything that would embarrass me and keep me from letting you out early again."

With a chorused agreement, everyone set off early to their next class. Geography, with Sesshomaru. Who was probably still really upset. Oh the joy.

* * *

Everyone was seated well before the second bell was due to ring. 

"So how was it?" Kagome asked excitedly.

"Just reviewing some of the basics," replied Kikyou. "Hopefully we will get to work with the actual weapons soon, as we need to become comfortable with them."

My-Linh and Miroku nodded. "I'm especially hoping for knives and daggers first." My-Linh murmured, "They'll probably what we'll end up using most, therefore need slightly more attention than any of the other weapons."

Miroku shook his head in disagreement. "No, we should be working with handguns first. They are what would be used most. Knives are only useful if your opponent doesn't have a gun. And they most assuredly will."

_**Ding!**_

Sesshomaru looked up at the class he had been previously ignoring at the sound of the second bell. "Silence." He hissed and suddenly everything got quiet.

"This is in fact a Geography class, however it probably will not be as you are thinking. Sure, you will be learning about the geography of Japan, but also you shall become more aware of everything in the cities of towns deemed necessary by Naraku. In this way, becoming more familiar with your settings will give you the upper hand. In some areas you will be expected to know every nook and cranny, where for others you only need basic understanding."

He paused to look at everyone before continuing, "This certainly will not be an easy class, but a necessary one. It could possibly save your life. So, on your desk you see a map. You will fill it out to the best of your knowledge, and then as a class we will all go over it. Then you will use this map to study religiously from until you know it as well as the back of your own hand. There will be no talking or sharing of answers. Begin."

Kagome looked down at the map on the screen of her desk. And suddenly she felt as though she was going to be sick. In the top right corner of the map, the city was identified as Avaka.

The once proud city was hardly even a ghost of its former glory, and the recent map clearly showed that. Absolutely disgusted with Sesshomaru for administering such a thing, Kagome had half a mind to ignore the assignment in silent protest. But where would that get her? Surely Mom would be notified about the disobedience and… well she couldn't shame her mother like that.

Shooting the inu youkai a look of pure contempt Kagome set to work.

She placed her finger on an especially large building, making the blinking line appear that showed it was ready for her to type.

'**Communications Center'** she quickly typed in, before clicking on the smaller object next to it. '**Communications Tower'**

And on it went until she had nothing left to label, not even small physical landmarks. Yes, Kagome was familiar with the land. After all, she had once lived there. But that had been a long time ago, and not something to think about now.

"All right," Sesshomaru stood again to address the class. "Time is up. Now, we shall review together. What is this?"

Kagome raised her hand and Sesshomaru nodded. "The main army base."

He nodded. "And this?"

My-Linh answered this time, "The Communications Center."

"Communications Tower."

"Biotechnology Center."

"Hiroshi River."

"Supply Base."

"Takani Farm Land."

Finally when everything was answered, and any missed places corrected everyone was handed a chip with the map on it to download on their laptop for studying.

_**Ding!**_

"Dismissed." Sesshomaru all but snarled as he resumed his position at his desk and went back to pointedly ignoring everyone's existence.

Everyone scampered out of the room, not daring to speak until safely out of the room.

"Feh! He doesn't scare me." Muttered Inuyasha darkly, "And to make us do that map… he's even worse than I thought."

Everyone nodded collectively, the six sticking in a small tight-knit group. Kagome actually, was astonished that she had yet to be approached by Kouga. It was rather strange, especially since they were in the same class last period and headed for the same one for next period.

Her musings were, of course, interrupted but none other than Kouga himself. Well, at least she needn't worry about his mental or physical condition now.

"Hey Kagome, how about I walk you to class?" He wore his charming grin, and Kagome felt compelled by something akin to sympathy to agree.

"Sure Kouga. We're going to the same place anyways." Kagome smiled at the ookami, vaguely registering Inuyasha's glare on her back and the disturbing giggles coming from My-Linh.

"So how was your first period?"

"Eh, it was all right. I mean, I didn't get to do much today, but it's better than getting stuck with looking at that damn book again. Besides, it's probably better that we take it slow since I haven't been in an aircraft since last year. But that old thrill came back when I was piloting, you know?" She peered dreamily ahead, not quite thinking otherwise she'd have realized that Kouga couldn't possibly know since he wasn't taking piloting.

"Yeah, I felt the same way about hand-to-hand today. It was great, even if it was just going over the basics." Kouga grinned, remembering the rush he'd gotten at being able to work on his combat skills again. Basics were the foundation of everything after all.

And Kagome felt that perhaps Kouga wasn't quite so annoying as she had originally thought. Perhaps there was a chance for a real friendship here.

Well… filled with random proposals and declarations of love of course.

"Do you want to sit next to me?" asked Kouga upon arrival of their next class, and Kagome smiled.

"Sure Kouga, that'd be fine."

Inuyasha sat possessively on her other side, and everyone else filled up the extra space. Hojo seemed to be making friends with Kikyou and Sango, which was good as he was much too quiet for his own good.

Soon someone entered, and he was quite possibly the most beautiful man Kagome had ever seen.

Shaggy silver hair fell in gentle layers to his shoulders, brushing the standard teacher uniform gently, and hisemerald eyes sparkled with life and mirth. A lushlavander crescent moon with a small star between its points adorned his right cheek, contrasting nicely with the man's tanned skin.

"Hello, I am Tsukasa." He smiled, and Kagome was sure she could feel herself melting. Even the guys seemed to be taking a liking to their new teacher. "Today you are here for Code. In fact, this is one of the more important things that you will be learning, as it will provide a great advantage to you and your side if you can speak freely in a way that your enemy can't decipher or understand.

"Actually, one of the first things we will be learning is one of the older and least used forms of speech. Sign language. Since the number of deaf people have lowered greatly there is no serious need for many to learn and know the language, or form of speech. Which is why we will be learning to use it. We will also be delving into a coded form of writing where symbols tend to make up everything; it was created by Lord Horibuchi and a team of trustworthy assistants, and then approved. You will be among the first to learn and use it."

The period passed quickly enough, everyone simply learning the basic alphabet and spelling out their own names.

In fact, everyone seemed to take to it quickly and groaned when the bell rang.

"Class dismissed. Go and eat lunch, the bell will ring for your fourth class when it is time. Have a good day."

* * *

**KK:** Yes, a bit boring, and I apologize. I hope that the funnier parts made up for it. (If there were any funny parts) The next chapter will hold the rest of the day… AND the long awaited prophecy! (long awaited?) 

_Now_, I will take the time to reply to those who reviewed, but weren't signed in, as there aren't many of them and I want to thank them, yanno?

* * *

**Zoey:** Aww, thank you! I won't let them, I promise. I'm glad you like them, and I thank you for your review. 

**Demonic Gurl: **_:sneezes from the dust:_ xD Sensei? Aw, I HEART YOU. Teehee, you're so kind to me. By the way, I read your Valentine fic, and I wanted to tell you that you did an amazing job on that. I almost feel stupid for not having looked at what you've written before, as you're one of my very favorite reviewers. I do hope you enjoyed this chapter (It's LONGER. :D)!

* * *

**Kagome:** _:blinks:_ Wow. We dyed Sesshomaru's clothing. Pink. 

**Inuyasha:** Feh! It wasn't you! You hardly did anything! I did most of the- uh oh.

**Sesshomaru:** No, do continue on. I believe this tape recorder wants to hear what you have to say… as proof you did it, and so I can get away with beating you into a bloody pulp WITH EVIDANCE on my side. Go on, continue.

**Inuyasha: **Actually, I'd rather not. Really.

**KK:** Well, I'm a _review_ _whore_. Honestly. So uh, make me happy and review. **Please?**

You know you want to. Go on, push the button and leave me a comment. :D


	5. The Prophecy

_Bringing Honor_

_The Prophecy_

_By: Kuraii-chan_

* * *

**KK: **Yay! I'm back, _with the prophecy._ That's right. You'll get to see the prophecy today.

**Inuyasha:** Hmph. It's not that interesting, just a bunch of words jumbled together by a dead chick. I don't see what the big deal is.

**Midoriko:** WHAT! You dare insult me? DIE! _:chases Inu with a butcher knife:_ I'll teach you to doubt my authority!

**KK: **_:blinks:_ Who said anything about your authority?

**Kagome:** Ssh. This is funny. Hey, anyone got popcorn?

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them. Except My-Linh. And Kiba. And Kira, Kyo, Hotohori, Tsubasa, Keema (especially! He's a roleplay character of mine) and Akito. Muahaha. But I wish… oh how I wish I did. And that I could draw manga. O.o

**Author Notes:** Prepare yourself for information and an obvious filler chapter. Action should be expected in later chapters. After they get deported to fight in the war. (and no, none of you can claim to have expected that they wouldn't be. Its obvious, and even mentioned in the description-thing.)

_Added note:_ I apologize for the delay! My excueses are many, but I will not repeat them for you. It will suffice to say that I got particularly mad about not being able to defeat someone in my KH2 game, and decided to take a break and start writing again. Gomen nasai, and I will try to make up for my two-month long absense!

* * *

**Kisetu, Japan 3659 Training Center**

Everyone sat around the lunch table. Yes. _Everybody._ Which means Kouga and Hojo too. Yeah… not the greatest idea, but so far there hadn't been a disaster.

… So far.

Kagome blinked down at her miso soup.

_What is floating in my soup? Ohmigawd, please tell me that isn't some sort of arm attached to it too..._

Using her spoon she prodded the mysterious object until she was certain that it was not, in fact, alive. All right, that was a good sign. Now… what exactly was it?

"Um Kagome?"

Well, it did look semi edible. Should she chance it?

"Kagome?"

She prodded it again; this time not so sure she wanted to even consider eating this- well, whatever it was. After all, who is stupid enough to eat something that they're not even sure what it is?

"Kagome!"

Said girl blinked up at Sango, who seemed to have been the one chosen to bring Kagome back from her trance-like state.

"Yes Sango?"

Kouga, sitting right next to her sighed. "Do you do this often? You really scared me there."

Kagome grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of her next. "Apparently. Not on purpose, I just get so wrapped up in my thoughts that I don't notice what is going on around me."

Hojo looked up from his meal, his face expressing his evident concern. "That isn't a good thing to have Kagome-chan, especially out on the battlefield. You could get killed that way. I do hope you'll be careful."

"Oh of course Hojo! I don't mean to worry you, especially since we're not actually out there fighting yet. And I promise I'll be more careful about it, really." She nodded, smiling enthusiastically and no one doubted she would.

Hojo nodded, smiling before returning quietly back to his meal.

"Anyways," Inuyasha muttered, scowling, "What was it you wanted to tell us Miroku?"

"Oh right, I heard that Yumiri has advanced again. Apparently his troops burned down the crops in Daisaku. That is where we get most of our rice from nowadays, so it looks like we'll be having our rice supply cut off even more now than ever. China seems to be sympathizing and it's possible that they might agree to trade with us now, even if it means making enemies of the Junsuina. They seem to agree that a lifestyle without rice is like taking away the very thing that makes us Japanese."

Kikyou smiled, "Good. This is an important step in the right direction. Even if it is only a small one, if China intervenes then all the other Nations will finally have to acknowledge this civil war that is tearing Japan apart."

My-Linh however seemed to disagree. "That could severely backfire however. China may just get dragged into this, and all the Nations will simply ignore Japan's troubles as they have been doing for so long now. After all, what would they gain by entering themselves in this? Nothing. And to simply loose their solders? It wouldn't be a good plan, and most assuredly the citizens of the Nations would begin to protest, which in turn would cause turmoil and uprisings. It would be best if we were simply left on our own. Besides, could you imagine if they invaded and took over as if they new what was best for everyone? That is only up for the _Kagi _to decide, and no one can convince me otherwise."

Kagome blinked, and everyone else seemed just as conflicted on the subject after hearing both sides as she did. Both had valid points…

Kouga coughed, "So, what did you think of Sesshomaru giving us a map quiz on Avaka Kagome?" His voice was loud enough for everyone at the table, and the current delicate conversation was not-so-tactfully turned onto only somewhat safer topics.

"Horrible. But then, this IS war, and we can't let such soft spots in our hearts affect us. I think that was what he was trying to get across, not that he was upset about pink clothing and wanted to rub old wounds in our faces." She smiled faintly, but it was obviously strained.

Kouga had noticed her pained look earlier while filling out the map, but he wasn't aware of Kagome having lost anyone in the Avaka Tragedy. Perhaps some memories were buried there that were simply better off forgotten? Well, he wouldn't pry. Not if it would bring Kagome pain.

"Besides, as much of a ghost town it has become there are rumors that there is still perfectly good supplies there, and if such a rumor was to reach the ears of the Junsuina then they'd certainly follow up on it. Which makes it as much a battle ground as any other place, does it not?"

"Exactly," My-Linh nodded, seeming rather pleased with her new friend's train of thought. "I think now you're starting to get it. And if I can get all of you to starting thinking this way, we'll help the Kitarai stand a better chance."

Kikyou frowned, and the gesture was not lost on Kagome, but she said nothing. Perhaps Kikyou was still a bit mad over My-Linh's earlier attack on her thoughts. Anyone would be after all.

"I'm heading to Healing next." Kagome offered. Kikyou smiled.

"Me as well."

Inuyasha grinned, "Sniping."

My-Linh and Kouga nodded, and Inuyasha's expression was that of one in pain… orof someone who just realized their "enemy" had all their classes but one.

"And I'm going to Advanced Programming." Sango murmured happily.

Miroku grinned, "Oh my lovely Sango, we shall have the next class together then! We have almost all the same classes, aren't you delighted?"

"No."

Hojo smiled timidly, "I too am taking Advanced Programming."

Sango practically jumped on him. "Oh good! Now I won't be stuck with Miroku all by myself."

_**Ding!**_

Everyone dropped off their dishes off at the conveyor belt once more, splitting up to head to their classes.

"So, what do you think we'll learn in class?" Kagome asked the long haired michihiko, in an attempt to get the girl to speak. She figured now would not only be the best time to get closer to her new friend, but pull her mind away from whatever it was.

Kikyou looked over at Kagome and shrugged, "Probably just some basic remedies, and some stuff on medicine. You know, how to make it, put it together."

She nodded, opening the door for Kikyou before following her in.

… And staring in astonishment at the desk and seat-less room.

"Just sit on the floor. You two are my only pupils and I saw no need to request desks or chairs." A girl, looking to be in her early twenties, stepped forward her long black hair swaying. She was dressed in traditional miko garments of blue and white, and had blue eyes. "Good day, I'm Tsubaki."

"Kikyou," the elder girl responded, bowing.

"Kagome," she added after, mimicking the bow. Tsubaki gave Kagome a look that she found hard to decipher. Suspicion perhaps?

"Well," Tsubaki began, "We will be starting small today. You will only begin to recognize some herbs that still grow in the wild today, so you may use them should the need arise. Also come basic medication and possibly how to make it if we have the time. Not the pills, but a soup or drink-like liquid. This will be useful if you are stranded in the wilderness."

Their newest Sensei sat down on the floor, and Kagome and Kikyou followed suit. Kagome crossed her legs in a relaxed stance while Kikyou kept with tradition and delicately tucked them beneath her.

Soon various leaves and roots were presented to them, all very distinguishable and noticeably different looking.

"To numb pain," she pointed to one of the roots, then to a leaf, "To clot the blood." Then to another leaf, "Reduces swelling."

They were fairly easy to remember, and after being quizzed a few times Tsubaki seemed pleased.

"Good. Now, for the numbing pain one. This is probably the most useful thing I could possibly show and teach you to make. You will more than likely use it on more than one occasion. First you will grind it up into a fine powder. Then you simply add enough water to make it paste-like. In the paste form, you can smear it on a cut to numb it that way. But if you're in pain without the cuts, then you'll just add enough water to make it liquid like… but you'll have to make sure that the power fully dissolves, otherwise it's effect will be diminished."

They nodded.

"The next one is simple as well." Tsubaki murmured, picking up a thick leaf. "You really needn't do anything but break the leaf in half-" she did so, and a liquid began to seep out of the ripped leaf, "And apply the liquid to the cut. The effect it pretty much instantaneous."

She handed Kikyou one half, and Kagome the other. "Look carefully, because there are plants out there that look similar, but instead excrete poison. Smearing that on your wound on accident could cause death if not immediately treated. The difference is that on this plant, the leaves look like strange extensions of the stem. The other does, but they also have odd bumps on them. You'll be able to tell the difference if you look, I promise."

_**Ding!**_

"Already?" Tsubaki looked over at the digital clock on the wall, "All right, dismissed."

Kagome and Kikyou exited and Kagome yawned a bit, stretching as they walked to their next class.

"Mm, programming." Kagome grinned over at her companion, "Fun, ne?"

"Hai," she answered, pausing a bit before continuing, "I rather like the subject. I think it's fascinating, but I couldn't get into the Advanced programming class. I needed Healing, being a miko, and I need to learn piloting because I refuse to be holed up in a base and doing nothing out there where the action is. It would drive me insane."

Kagome nodded, "Me too. They'd actually probably kick me out because I'd be so fidgety and bored all the time… And oh the havoc I'd create…"

Kikyou laughed softly, and Kagome grinned in relief. Well it seemed that Healing had put the older girl in a better mood. "Ready to face Sesshomaru-sensei again? I wonder if he is still mad about his clothing?"

"Probably," Kagome grunted, not at all happy to be going back to Sesshomaru's class. And it didn't help that her thoughts immediately went back to this morning… of him without a shirt…

Oh no! She hadn't had this problem earlier! Why now? Aghhhh.

Kikyou looked over at Kagome, her expression a mixture of concern and wariness. "Are… you all right?"

"Peachy." She sighed, entering the room first this time. "Heyyyyyy Sango!"

"Kagome! Come sit next to me!" Her friend called, and I trotted over, dragging Kikyou behind.

As soon as they had plopped into their seats Sesshomaru entered, looking as furious and cold (how did he manage those at the same time?) as ever.

"This is Programming. As you are all _incompetent fools_ we will begin with the basics. I expect you to learn quickly and for there to be no complaints. I will not tolerate any disobedience."

Um, yeah, maybe he was still a _little_ mad.

"First you turn on the equipment before you. It is standard and used for almost everything. There can be specially made equipment for the richer or for large groups who can afford it. To turn it on, in case you are stupider than you appear, you press the small green button. From there it will turn on. Magic." Sesshomaru waited until everyone's screens showed the starting page.

"Now if you even need to find anything, you need to know how to look for it. Open the application named 'server'…"

It was basically a step-by-step process of repeatedly going through simple things like finding files, running them, and even creating files or commands. And we did each one over and over until Sesshomaru was positive that not only did we have it down, but also we could do it in our sleep.

"Tomorrow, we will be learning to do more complex commands and searches. They will be useful, I assure you."

_**Ding!**_

"Be gone."

Everyone exited, a faint pounding in their heads from staring at one screen for so long.

"It's good to see all of you again!" Tsukasa greeted warmly after the second bell went off. "Are you happy to be almost done with all of your classes? Me too. But you have to get through History before you're free for the rest of the day…"

He sat atop his desk, peering from face to face. "Now I know all of you here have heard of the Prophetess Midoriko. And all of you have heard her prophecy at least once. But here, we shall be going over it again, as I'm sure most of you have forgotten the actual wording. On your screens will be a copy. I would like everyone to read over it for a few minutes before we discuss it." Tsukasa grinned, smoothing his bangs away from his eyes.

Kagome looked down at the screen on her desk, and sure enough there it was.

_'Before order can be restored_  
_Blood will be shed  
__Innocent and tainted alike  
__And chaos will reign_

_It will come to pass that the Kagi shall rule  
__But not before Nine witness destruction  
__One among whom a warrior's heart shall emerge  
__And lead bravely_

_Beware, suspicion will cause disharmony  
__As a traitor is sought  
__Something lost shall be recovered  
__Though not before a brave young solider looses himself to death_

_A careful one shall protect; a reckless one bring pain  
__Yet none shall be victorious until the sorrowful find peace  
__From the midst of war a gentle soul shall emerge  
__Though loyalty may be confused_

_And the one sought after, the item will accompany  
__The Kagi shall be a mix of opposing sides  
__Possess the purest of hearts  
__And within the Kagi's soul will lie  
__The power to heal_

_Take heed, many shall pretend  
__But things are never as they seem  
__And only with the help of a hypocrite  
__May salvation be obtained  
__To cleanse the hands of the corrupt'_

Kagome sighed. It was just as long as she remembered. No wonder she hadn't been interested in the old prophecy at the time…

"Time's up. Tell me your thoughts."

Sango raised her hand and was promptly called upon. "Well, I think that where it says, um, _'and the one sought after, the item will accompany'_ is talking about the Kagi and the item, whatever it might be. Because everyone is searching for the Kagi, and of course the item will accompany the Kagi."

Tsukasa nodded, "That is what many have interpreted it as, yes. But the interpretations have not been made public knowledge."

My-Linh's hand rose as well. "And, even though it's pretty obvious, I think the part that says _'Take heed, many shall pretend but things are never as they seem' _is in reference to all the people who have pretended to be the Kagi over the years. And some of them seemed like the real Kagi, but it was obvious they weren't when they couldn't enter the Palace."

Tsukasa smiled. "Another common conception. Hai, very good. Any others?"

"Sensei," called Kagome, "At the end, does that mean the opposing sides will be cleansed of their sin and everyone will no longer be driven by blood lust?"

Tsukasa blinked, looking a bit taken aback before smiling once more. "That is a theory, hai. Not many people have tried to decipher that particular part, because it is so vague. Good job Miss Higurashi. Anyone else want to venture a try?"

"Why the number nine?" Asked Inuyasha, frowning. "What is so special about nine?"

"It is a mystery," answered the silver-haired man with a cryptic smile. "But for now we shall move on. How much do any of you know about Midoriko?"

Everyone stared back at Tsukasa with blank expressions.

"As I thought," he sighed, "Well, to start with she was born into a humble family of low status. She was only discovered after telling a visiting Prince some prophecy. He brushed it off at the time, but a couple of years later, the entire thing had played out as she had said. He sought her out, and brought her back to his Kingdom. The two eventually married, you know. And, as a little know fact, as a child she had fallen in love with the Prince, which is why she told him her prophecy, to protect and forewarn him.

"And also, while Midoriko was a technically a miko, her Prince was a youkai. The two had only an heir before Midoriko passed on. The great Prophecy was made just after the death of the last Kagi and right before Midoriko's own death. Her husband, the Prince, made sure to make the prophecy public knowledge as it had been her last wish. Their heir ruled after the death of his father, but no one is sure what happened to the Kingdom. Its people seemed to just suddenly disappear, leaving a "ghost town". The ruins are still there today, but not often visited."

"Sensei, did the Heir disappear along with the Kingdom's people?"

Tsukasa nodded, "Hai. Otherwise the entire bloodline would be widely famous today. And the saddest part is, no one knows the names of the Heir or the Prince. Only Midoriko. Over time the names were lost I suppose, just as the knowledge of everything about Midoriko has been."

_**Ding!**_

"And you all my go. Enjoy the rest of your day!" Tsukasa hopped off his desk, somehow still managing to look graceful as ever.

Everyone met in the hallway. "I propose we go to our rooms for a bit to rest and then meet up in the courtyard in an hour. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm exhausted." Kikyou murmured, and all nodded in agreement.

* * *

"Mm!" Kagome flopped onto the ground, resting her back against the solid base of the great tree. "It feels great out here!"

Everyone followed suit, delighted to be outside and feeling great after their rest.

Except Inuyasha, who grinned mischievously… _Uh oh, that's never good_… Kagome thought uneasily.

"What do all of you want to sit around for? Today's perfect… for climbing trees." He smirked before jumping to grab a hold of the lowest limb, hauling himself up so he could sit on the branch.

Kagome laughed, standing. Why shouldn't they? There were no rules stating you couldn't climb the trees, and it would be a nice change.

Inuyasha leaned down, offering a hand to Kagome… who was too short to reach the actual limb herself.

Grabbing hold of his hand, he hauled her up as well, helping her steady herself before she fell out of the tree. That just wouldn't have been fun, now would it? Kagome grinned and began working her way further up the tree.

"Come on guys! It's fun!" She called down to her friend who were obviously weighing the consequences, but eventually the idea of having fun and acting like they were five won over and soon everyone was in the tree, giggling. Or in the "men's" case, laughing. Because "men" don't giggle. Supposedly.

"Kikyou's it!" Called Inuyasha loudly before scampering off the shared branch to seek a safer spot. The girl blinked, staring blankly at Inuyasha before grinning.

Quickly, as if she had been born to climb trees, she had tagged Kouga and darted off. The wolf youkai huffed, but played along anyways.

He trapped My-Linh fairly quickly and with a shout of "My-Linh's it!" hopped onto a neighboring branch and seemed to shimmy up the tree. Which was a very strange sight indeed…

Kagome giggled, lounging above everyone's heads. Watching the scene with unveiled amusement and even cheering some people on. It was a bit of a surprise when in the middle of tracking down Hojo, My-Linh turned and instead went after Kagome.

"Eep!" The michihiko cried, scrambling to get up and find safer ground… err, tree limbs.

Kagome, standing flush against the tree trunk, straining to reach the branch just above her… but in a situation like this, being short wasn't an advantage. It was just barely out of her reach.

"_Ah! Sesshomaru's coming!"_ cried someone, but Kagome's mind didn't fully register it as she stood on the tips of her toes, trying to reach that elusive branch… and when it finally processed, she naturally looked down.

_Oh no… really high up…_ And there he was, seemingly staring straight at her. Then the wonderful golden eyes narrowed and Kagome felt herself instinctively take a step backwards…

… Onto absolutely nothing.

"Aiiee!" Kagome cried, arms flailing wildly as she tried to somehow regain her balance and grab something at the same time. It didn't work, and she began plummeting towards the ground, somehow managing to miss the branches that came her way… except the very large one that was approaching fast.

_Oh shit, I'm gonna die…_

Sesshomaru's eyes widened as he watched the girl step back. _Fool_, he thought momentarily before jumping up from branch to branch to catch said fool.

He leaped, sailing over the large branch just in time to meet Kagome. He caught her deftly, and the two began their descent to the ground. He looked down at her, feeling faintly annoyed at not only her foolishness but at her sheer stupidity to climb up so high. Surely this was another one of Inuyasha's ill-planned ideas…

Everyone crowded around as he gingerly landed on the ground, sighing in relief to see that their friend was unharmed except for a few minor scratches and her obvious shock. In fact, that was probably why she was still clinging to him with that death grip of hers…

"Miss Higurashi," he tried to get her attention, and while it worked she only gave him a blank stare. "Miss Higurashi, release me."

Still her eyes remained blank and she refused to relinquish her hold on his clothing. It was unnerving, those eyes. Usually they were so full of emotion, and seeing them in such a state… it made one wish for that overly happy and annoying smile of hers.

"Miss Hi- Kagome." Well that got her attention. The raven-haired girl blinked up at him, now looking more dazed than anything.

Sesshomaru sighed. "Please release my clothing, Kagome." She nodded absently, her grip loosening as she looked around. Every smiled, pushing forward to see their friend if that was at all possible. Sesshomaru let her down, and she was immediately ambushed. But, soon she seemed to be fine and was talking with her friends as though nothing had happened.

"**None** of you should have been in the trees." Sesshomaru began, and all went silent. "I would have expected better from all of you. Just because there is no specific rule that says you cannot climb the trees, does not mean that you can climb them anyways. It is called common sense, and while I may be making too big an assumption, I believe all of you have it. So _use_ it. I don't ever want something so foolish to happen again. Have I made myself clear?"

Everyone nodded, a collective chorus of ashamed 'Yes sir's making Sesshomaru nod. "Good. Let this be a warning and a lesson to you. Your friend here could have been gravely injured or even died because of what you have done. Don't make the same mistake again."

And with that he stalked off.

"You're sure you're all right, Kagome?" Miroku asked worriedly. Everyone's anxious faces mirrored the question.

"I'm fine, really." Kagome murmured, smiling. "Don't worry about it. Now I'm hungry. Let's go eat dinner!"

* * *

**KK:** Woohoo. I was going to include dinner and a little talk between My-Linh and Kagome, but I'm lazy and don't feel like it. :P Don't worry, they'll still talk. Just in the next chapter instead.

**Sesshomaru:** Inuyasha, you are a harebrained fool. You nearly got one of your comrades killed.

**Inuyasha:** S-Shut up Fluffy!

**Sesshomaru:** So now we resort to childish name-calling because you know I'm right and that you almost killed the girl you supposedly claim to care for?

**Inuyasha:** …

**Sesshomaru:** Exactly.

**Shippou:** Don't review. I'm not really in this story because I'm "not old enough". _Don't review!_


	6. The calm before the storm

_Bringing Honor_

_The calm before the storm_

_By: Kuraii-chan_

* * *

**KK:** Yanno… I've noticed that everyone has started calling me 'KK' and 'K'… and while that's cool if that's what you want to call me, I do prefer 'Kuraii-chan'. :D Just thought I'd randomly add that. 

**Seika:** You act as if people care.

**KK:** You're not a very good muse. At all. And you HIDE ALL THE TIME. That's why I hardly get anything finished!

**Seika:** _:huffs:_ That's not my problem. It's yours. Get a new muse if you don't like it.

**KK:** All right.

**Seika:** Whaa—NO! Wait! You can't replace me! Kuraii-chan, come back!

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Oh my. Do I own them? No, but I could pay you… um… some incense, a few pennies, and some pocket lint for them! No? Aw… that's too bad. Let me know if you ever change your mind, because I would love to own Inuyasha! 

**Author Notes:** Yes, another filler chapter… however, things get good (finally) in the next chapter. I know, because I have it all planned out, muahahah. I just want to make sure the characters are equipped with some useful basic knowledge that they'll be needing later on. Maybe even some they won't. Hehe.

I'm dedicating this chapter to: **_Demon Gurl_** who is my absolute favorite. She sends me reviews like none other and has stuck with me for… quite some time now. xD Luffluff!

* * *

**Kisetu, Japan 3659 Training Center**

This time Kagome woke as soon as My-Linh tried to rouse her.

_A repeat of yesterday morning? I think not,_ she inwardly scoffed. "Good morning My-Linh."

The kitsune smiled, a knowing smirk lurking just beneath. "Good morning to you as well Kagome-chan. I hope slept well…?"

"Mmhm," Kagome nodded, stretching as she sat up, rubbing her eyes sleepily before grumbling good-naturedly. "My, aren't you the morning person."

My-Linh just smiled, walking off to do something or another as the young michihiko rose unsteadily and tottered out the door to the showers. This time she was sure to go to the **women's** bathing room, instead of the men's.

She was all too happy to see that there was indeed the selection of scented bathing items that she so fondly remembered. Kagome hummed happily to herself as she set to work, showering quickly and finally snapping awake during the routine process.

"'Morning!" She called over to some girl she vaguely remembered from being in her class the previous year. The girl seemed delighted and enthusiastically returned the greeting.

Once safely back in her room, Kagome changed into her uniform and sighed. _Getting up so early should be a crime_, she thought unhappily while waiting for My-Linh so they could head down for breakfast.

"Ready! Lets go, I'm hungry." My-Linh called, starting Kagome from whatever stupor she had been in to follow behind.

They were the first to arrive, but everyone followed suit soon after.

"Yo," greeted Kouga, dropping into his seat across from Kagome, and Miroku sat next to him with a smirk.

"You didn't grace us with your presence in the showers this morning," commented the michihiko with the most innocent look he could muster, "Why ever not?"

Said girl nearly choked on her toast. Flushing all the way to her toes, Kagome shot Miroku a death glare, but otherwise remained silent. Luckily, Kouga had whapped him on the head for that comment.

"Leave Kagome-chan alone you hentai!" Sango hissed, patting the beet-red choking girl on the back.

Inuyasha chose that moment to flop down at the table. He glanced over at Kagome, taking in her flushed appearance and Sango patting her on the back. "'S matter? Did your dog die or something?"

Mm. Infamous Kagome-glare in full force, now directed to the hanyou. Fun fun.

Amber eyes blinked, and wavered uncertainly between the table of people. "What? Was it something I said? Or did I miss something?"

Kouga snorted. "You missed a very big something, dog-boy. Next time think before you open that big trap of yours."

Inuyasha opened his mouth to reply, but Kagome cut him off. "My DOG died? Inuyasha! I have a **cat!** You know, Buyo? Geeze! _Men._"

_**Ding!**_

The hanyou all but jumped out of his seat. "You can run, Inu-baby, but you** can't hide.**" Kagome called after him, all too happy to notice his shiver.

Miroku's eyebrow rose. "Inu-baby?" Everyone turned their attention to Kagome as they set their dishes on the conveyor belt.

"Well, it's a long and embarrassing story for Inuyasha…" Kagome paused, "… That I will be all too happy to disclose to you."

"You see, when we were younger this girl had the biggest crush on him. Her name was Nuriko. She thought he and I liked each other, so she'd always get in the way and try to get him to play with her. Inuyasha, of course, always tried to hide from her, but I swear that girl was like, part wolf or something. She could _always _find him.

"But anyways. So, one day Nuriko tried to get Inuyasha to marry her. You know how as kids we were always marrying one another? Well, it almost worked, because she told him that if he wore his best clothing and went to the park he'd win some sort of huge prize. So, of course he went.

"And the rest will have to wait." There were groans from everyone not headed to piloting. Kagome smiled, "Fear not. I won't continue the story until the next time I see everyone." Now it was the turn for everyone else to groan.

"C'mon guys!" She called, bounding down the hall. "We don't want to be late now do we?"

* * *

"All right!" Natizuma grinned. "Glad to be back, I bet. Well, lets see if everyone is here… Lyrea Sango?" 

"Here," the michihiko called.

"Higurashi Kagome?"

"Present!" She called with a giggle. Natizuma just shook her head with a small smile playing on her lips.

"Takawaki Inuyasha?"

A grunt was all that was heard from the far corner of the room. Kagome turned and smiled sweetly at him, the smile only growing as his left eye involuntarily twitched.

"Ueda Hojo?"

"Here."

Natizuma looked up, cheerily putting up the attendance sheet. "All right! Same as yesterday, everyone file out to the training grounds! And from now on, we shall be meeting out there. I have cleared it with our supervisors."

Scattered cheers ran through the small group of people as they all hurried outside, everyone eager to continue the lesson.

"Okay, everyone listen up!" All eyes turned to the petite brunette, "Today we were originally work on the basics, but after everyone's performance yesterday I decided you have the basics down and so we should get more comfortable in the aircraft. So we'll be going in the same order as yesterday, working on something of an obstacle course. From this, I will be able to better determine your weak points and help everyone improve. Is this clear?"

Everyone nodded firmly.

"All right. Higurashi, you're up. I want you in Enyu again today."

"Yes ma'am!" Eagerly Kagome grabbed a helmet and rushed over to the sleek black and silver aircraft. Oh, how she couldn't wait to be in the cockpit again!

She climbed up the side with unusual grace and, while waiting with her hand on the keypad for recognition and entrance, waved at Sango who had been loudly shouting encouraging things to her best friend.

With a soft _swish_ of the door, Kagome disappeared from public view and settled herself inside the snug cockpit.

Once more she brought up the main screen and was pleased to find it hadn't been too modified by others. With a few tweaks, it was back to the way she had originally set it.

"Good," she murmured to herself, powering Enyu up and glancing around at the multiple screens.

"_Kagome, you can hear me right?"_

"Hai, sensei." She smiled as Natizuma's face popped up on the only blank screen. "Everything is set, just tell me what you need me to do."

"_Wonderful. All right, you of course need to get Enyu off the ground, and once you exit the runway, if you head to your right you can't possibly miss it. However the coordinates should also be entered into your system, so you **really** can't miss it."_

"Got it. Enyu and Higurashi taking off." Kagome felt that small surge of joy as she eased Enyu onto the runway, and gradually began to pick up speed. A small 'wheee!' could be heard as she finally left the ground and began to gain altitude.

"On the right," she murmured to herself, turning cautiously. "Aha! Found ya!"

_"All right. It's made up of a bunch of combos. Turns, twists, accuracy, and anything else that's 'basic' that you need to know. Good luck Higurashi, and this will be taken as a major grade. And, if you do exceedingly well, I'm sure you'll start being considered for more job opportunities."_

"Great," she groaned, "Tell me all of this _now._"

"_Oh, and one last thing. You will be timed. Go!"_

"Ack!" Hastily she surged forward, caught off-guard by the sudden exclamation.

And uh… traveling a bit faster than deemed necessary. All right, a lot faster. Yes, Kagome would also readily admit that she was a _little _scared considering her current speed and her lack of knowledge in how the obstacle course would go.

Successfully pulling off a dodge roll to the left to slip through a small opening in the large and quite solid barrier before her (_How did they manage getting that suspended in midair?_), Kagome felt a little confidence return.

Effectively she somehow managed to follow the erratic chain of loopholes that she (correctly) guessed she would have to pass through. Everything seemed fairly simple, dodging a few objects, passing unscathed through the increasingly small circular hoop-like things and so on.

Until the first real challenge presented itself that is…

_**Beep, beep, beep**_

With a look of incredulity, Kagome peered over at her radar and sure enough another aircraft was in the immediate area. And closing in.

Quickly.

_Well fine, bring it on_ Kagome thought darkly, shifting her screens to get a good look at her opponent. A fairly recent model, which meant that it would have about the same defenses and weaponry as she.

Speed and skill would determine the outcome of this match. Fun.

And of course, it only fueled her determination to discover the strange ribbon that marked the 'finish line' was just behind her opponent.

If it weren't for the constant reminder in the back of her head that she was being timed, Kagome would have allowed her opponent the opportunity to make the first move. As fate would have it, she just couldn't wait all day for that, therefore the michihiko would just have to attack first and get it over with. A pity, she hadn't sparred with anyone in quite some time…

After a quick assurance all her guns and shields were in perfect working order, Kagome shot forward in hopes of using the element of surprise.

Well, the aircraft jerked back a fraction, which signaled that she had caught the pilot slightly off guard and they had jumped but they seemed to recover fairly quickly. _Damn, there goes that idea…_

Once more she used her combined flips and quick movement to pull off another dodge roll and evade the rapid fire following her. Hm… interesting.

But… could she do it?

_Of course I can do it!_ Kagome inwardly scoffed. _But it would be unwise to underestimate my opponent._

After dodging the latest attack, she, having already worked her way closer to her opponent, spun quickly and unleashed open fire with no chance of escape. Only right before the aircraft was to burst into flames did she quit and surge forward to pass her now defeated opponent and finish he obstacle course.

_"Congratulations Higurashi on completing your task. Now I hope you know-"_

But Kagome cut her off, "Hai hai. I would normally continued shooting until the aircraft went down and there was no possible chance of them recovering and coming after me. As it was one of our own however, I did not wish to destroy one of our aircrafts nor possibly hurt a fellow Trainee."

_"… Very well. You may begin your decent now."_

It was fun to watch all her friends run through the obstacle course and cheer them on, even if her cries couldn't be heard. No one beat her time, and at the end of class she couldn't help beaming ecstatically.

* * *

_**Ding!**_

Sesshomaru looked at the class and sighed. "Today we look at a map of Kyoto. I'm sure everyone is quite familiar with where the normal buildings are, therefore we shall be examining the less known places."

A well-drawn map of the city appeared on the giant screen behind his head, and Sesshomaru moved out of the way to allow everyone a better view.

"Between the Communications Tower and the Treatment Plant we see a very small stretch. This alleyway is one of the least known and least used means of travel. Should we ever battle in Kyoto, and of this I have no doubt, this would be highly valuable to you. There is even a door into the Communications Tower right there, but opened by password. To fail to produce the correct password could prove… disastrous.

"The base in Kyoto also has an underground route of transportation accessible from any building… you simply must know how to get there. All doors are well hidden, I assure you, and therefore it would be the best way of transportation. If somehow they infiltrate it, you will need to know this city like the back of your hand to maintain the upper hand. This is what you will be learning in the class, obviously."

Sesshomaru looked around, and seemed to resist the urge to leave the room promptly. _They have to be the most incompetent imbeciles I have ever had the displeasure of teaching…_

"Higurashi, repeat what I have said." Kagome blinked. Oh damn.

"There is, um, a little known alleyway between the Communications Tower and the um… Treatment Plant! There is also a highly valuable underground system that allows one to enter any building he chooses from well hidden doors."

A finely sculpted eyebrow quirked, "And?"

"And…" She fished around wildly in her puddle of memories, trying frantically to recall what she could be forgetting. "Um, that if it gets infiltrated, one would have to know the city like the back of their hand to stand a chance?"

Sesshomaru nodded stiffly. "There is also a metal 'bridge' of sorts that connects the roofs of-"

And on it went until the bell mercifully rang once more. Everyone jumped up from their seats, eager to be out of the class.

Only to be stopped by a frigid look from the inu youkai. "I expect every one of you to study your map of Kyoto tonight, we shall be having a quiz on it tomorrow."

There was great scampering to get out of the classroom as Sesshomaru finally sat down at his desk and pointedly ignored the Trainees.

It was a fairly short walk to the next class so everyone was able to talk.

"So how was it?" My-Linh asked, grinning.

"Obstacle course," Kagome returned with a smile of her own. "It was fairly easy stuff, and then an opponent at the end. Who, as I discovered later, was a robot. Go figure. I needn't have tried to save the thing."

Sango chucked, "You're just a kind person Kagome. It's in your nature or whatever. You are who you are, so without stopping to think how absurd it would be to put another Trainee in there to battle with you, you assume it to be a person and automatically think 'Must Not Hurt'. Ignoring the fact that that would have hurt the person's pride of course."

"Aw," the michihiko grumbled, "Way to make me sound like a complete idiot. Thank you Sango, what would I do without you?"

"Mm, I don't even want to ponder the possibilities. So what happened with you and Kikyou?"

My-Linh's eyes sparkled, "We got to learn a new attack and defense today! It was awesome, especially since I didn't think the class would move along so quickly."

Kikyou nodded thoughtfully, "I agree. It was entertaining, and obviously some useful new skills. Perhaps one day I could teach you Kagome?"

"Nah, I'm sure I'll be fine. I don't plan on doing any hand-to-hand combat any time soon. I'm a piloting kind of girl, you know?"

_**Ding!**_

"Welcome back," Tsukasa smiled. Vaguely Kagome wondered if she had just melted into a puddle of… well, Kagome-goo.

Not the best prospect.

"First, we shall review the alphabet as we learned yesterday, and then some useful things to signal with others. Fairly easy stuff at first, of course, but if we finish early I suppose I could be persuaded to teach a few more things… Now, I will split everyone up, and I want you to work on spelling your names for one another."

Everyone split into pairs, and Kagome got stuck with Inuyasha. He seemed kind of nervous, but she couldn't figure out why…

Inuyasha was merely happy she had forgotten the morning's events so quickly.

"K a g o m e." She signed with ease, and beamed proudly. No one needed to know that she had practiced last night to get her mind off the near-death experience she had had earlier that day… of course not. Pssh.

"I n u y a e g a."Kagome giggled at her friend's slopping signing… and well, his obvious misspelling of his name.

"No, Inuyasha. 'S', your thumb rests over your fingers. What you did was the 'e'. And 'h' has two fingers there, not one for 'g'. Try again."

Huffing, he scowled, trying once more but with hesitance.

"I m u y a s h a." And she shook her head.

"Only one mistake this time. N is only two fingers, not three. One last time Inu, you can do it." Kagome smiled encouragingly, and watched with faint amusement as his puppy ears seemed to droop.

"I n u y a s h a."

The michihiko clapped happily, and Inuyasha smiled.

"Well done," a deep voice murmured from somewhere right behind Kagome, and she squeaked.

"Sensei!"

"Higurashi, it was admirable of your to continuously encourage and help Takawaki with his signing." The silver-haired man smiled.

"A-ano, it was nothing sensei!" Kagome interjected quickly, embarrassed. "Inuyasha is my friend, of course I would encourage and help him."

"If you say so," he said with a smiled, "All the same I wish to give you praise. And with that said, class! Now that everyone has finished, and I have observed everyone working with their partner, we should move on.

"The sign for 'help' is made by closing your right hand. Place it on the outstretched palm of your left hand, and then your raise both hands." He demonstrated, "If you're still confused, just make an 'a' or an 's' with your right hand, and a 'b' with your left hand. Place your right hand on your left, and raise both hands. Simple enough?

"Next is 'stop'. Extend your left hand like before, and you sharply bring your right hand down on your palm at an angle.

"Then we have 'go'. Take your two index fingers, and make a forward circular motion like this," And everyone mimicked it. "Good. 'Together' is-"

_**Ding!**_

* * *

"Tomorrow then." Tsukasa grinned, "Have a good day." 

Kikyou giggled with a mischievous smile. "So…" she began, "Who else finds Tsukasa-sensei to be, mm, what's the word…?"

"Beautiful?" asked Sango, smiling as well.

"Astounding?" interjected My-Linh.

"Mm." Kagome agreed, and Kikyou's eyes lit up.

"Exactly! That 'mm' sums him up in ways words can't." All the males looked quite put out by the female reaction.

"He's not so great," huffed Inuyasha in annoyance, crossing his arms in a distinctively sulking manner. "Honestly, I don't know what you girls see in him."

My-Linh's eyebrow quirked, "You mean aside from his amazingly good looks, smooth voice, and sweet personality?"

"Hmmph." The hanyou grunted, sinking in his seat at the lunch table.

Miroku frowned, "But my lovely Sango, Kagome, Kikyou, and My-Linh… you can't even entertain these thoughts as Tsukasa-sensei is… well, a Instructor. It would be illegal and immoral. You should look for males closer to your age… like me!"

"Nice try," grumbled Sango, "But no. We can entertain thoughts as much as we want, as long as we don't act on them. And all that aside, we're almost of legal age anyways. If say, Kagome, wanted Tsukasa she wouldn't have to wait long and then they could have all the hot sex they wanted without trouble. Quit trying to discourage us. We are the smarter sex."

Almost everyone sputtered or choked on their food in surprise.

Kikyou frowned playfully, "Why can't I be the one to have hot sex with him?"

"You can!" Kouga interrupted quickly, "Because Kagome is my woman after all. She wouldn't want that pretty boy, now would you Kagome?"

The michihiko stuck a tongue out at Kikyou, "Haha. Don't be bitter Kikyou, it doesn't suit you… muahah. And Kouga? If Sango says I get hot sex with Tsukasa-sensei, then by all means I'm going to. You're sweet, don't get me wrong… but he owns you."

Said ookami slunk down in his chair like Inuyasha and sulked as well. _Poor thing… but he'll be fine in like ten minutes. He just doesn't realize that no one could match Tsukasa-sensei in looks._

'Except perhaps Sesshomaru…' murmured a traitorous part of her mind softly. Kagome's eye twitched as her face slowly flushed bright red.

Her embarrassment seemed to be taken for the crude direction in which the conversation seemed to be going, and the subject was quickly dropped. Sango nudged her side, not quite so easily fooled however.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly, and Kagome looked over.

"Just thinking…" she murmured softly, even if no one else could hear them.

Sango prompted her gently, "About?"

Kagome sighed, "Sesshomaru," she muttered in a resigned voice.

The other michihiko blinked. Twice. "Sesshomaru?"

"Ah hahaha, mostly about last night." When her best friend nodded understandingly Kagome almost danced with relief that she had successfully skirted around the real reason. "I'm just… tired of being one of those typical females who always need saving, you know?

"And it always happens without fail. Remember two years ago when we were hanging out on the roof? I almost fell through that hole, and would have if Inuyasha hadn't been right next to me. And then that time when I accidentally ran into the line of fire while playing tag, but thanks to Miroku I was fine. I could keep you here for days recounting everything I've ever needed saving from, and every time I'm saved it presents the typical 'female getting rescued by male'! It's infuriating and frustrating beyond all belief!"

Sango nodded sympathetically, and Kagome continued on her tirade.

"I mean, its not bad enough that I'm so ungraceful that I often get myself into situations like that, but that it's always where I need to be saved by a _male_ because the situation is so bad! Getting suck under that boulder for example! I had to wait for Inuyasha to go get Sesshomaru **and** his father Inutashio. Why me? I don't get it, am I just a magnet for these kinds of situations?"

"Well," Sango ventured cautiously, "If nothing else at least you get bishounen helping to save you…"

The girl laughed nervously at the venomous glare sent her way, feeling rather bad when Kagome gave up the glare and instead looked ready to pull all her hair out. Bald plus Kagome? Not a good combination…

"I'm just tired of it Sango. Why must I always play the damsel in distress?" Kagome asked wearily.

"Don't worry Kagome, girl," Sango patted her on the back comfortingly, "You'll get your chance to change it some day."

_**Ding!**_

"If you say so," Kagome murmured, clearly not believing it for one second. "I'll see you later Sango."

Kikyou and Kagome walked in silence on the way to healing, neither wanting to speak first… and one of them also lost in her thoughts.

"So… I'm so going to steal Tsukasa-sensei from you." Kikyou glanced slyly over at Kagome with a hint of a smile playing around the corners of her lips. Kagome couldn't help but laugh.

"That's what you think!"

"Ahem." Coughed Tsubaki as they walked into the classroom, and both girls fell silent.

**_Ding!_**

"We will begin straight away today. Tamasaki, please come over here and help me with this. Higurashi, wait for my instructions."

As Kikyou left her side, Kagome was once again visited with the impression that Tsubaki seemed suspicious of her. Strange…

"Higurashi, catch."

A strange looking plant, well Kagome was assuming it was a plant, was thrown her way and Kagome reached out to grab it. As soon as it made contact with her skin however, she hissed with pain and it was all she could do to keep from snarling with she heard the sound of her sizzling. It was poisonous and frying off her skin!

But instead of dropping it, her grip seemed to tighten on the object and her hands glowed a fierce pink.

A second later it was over, and there was nothing left in her hands. There was no trace of the object even having existed either, except for the small burn marks on her tender palms.

Kagome blinked and looked up. "Ow."

Tsubaki smirked. "As I thought. You, Higurashi, are also a miko as Tamasaki and I are. We are going to go over some basic concepts about your powers and how to use them, as you obviously were unaware of them.

"Now, both of you come sit in as much of a circle as you can on the floor with me." Tsubaki sat elegantly, and her two students sat as well. "All right. There is power sleeping within you Higurashi, spiritual power. But, you see, untrained mikos are dangerous to society. At any time you power my flair alive, and without being able to control it you could take out entire cities.

"Of course, you would have to have an abnormally large about of spiritual power to do that, but it is a possibility nonetheless. Do you understand why you must do this?"

Kagome nodded, suddenly feeling a sliver of fear. She could easily explode like a deadly bomb and kill all her youkai friends…

"Good. Now, we will be learning to focus our spiritual powers. It is the reason you are at risk of purifying all youkai in the immediate area, untamed and uncontrolled spiritual power. We will be using a form of meditation to do so, and it will become easier to do with practice. You will need to relax completely, and focus on either your heartbeat or your breathing. Your eyes may be opened or closed; it matters not, but do not fall asleep.

"When you have fully relaxed, no thoughts running through your head, you should be able to detect the energy within yourself. It will be scattered in multiple free segments, and you will need to draw it all in and compress it together. I warn you, it will be no easy feat, so do not be discouraged if you can not do it on your first try. Refrain from feeling emotion, because that would interfere with the process, so if you become frustrated simply stop for a moment or two before resuming.

"And of course, simply repeat the process when you begin again and you will probably find it easier in the times to come. That is called progress. Now, both of you relax fully."

Kagome placed her hands on her knees and allowed her eyes to flutter shut. And began to listen to her breathing.

_In, out, in, out, in out…_ It followed a steady slow rhythm, and it was far more relaxing that she would have expected. She was falling into something of a sleepy haze when the steady sure sound of her heartbeat was suddenly pulsing throughout her body. _Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump…_

And then she realized the pulse was not from her heartbeat but the untapped power Tsubaki was speaking of.

Yes, as if suddenly hyper aware of her surrounding Kagome could feel all the scattered pieces, floating within. Gently, soothingly she called to them and began to lovingly gather them as a mother would gather her children. But there were just so many!

She could feel frustration bubble forth as a few of the more stubborn fragments slipped free, and joined others in dancing just out of her reach. _"Refrain from feeling emotion, because that would interfere with the process, so if you become frustrated simply stop for a moment or two before resuming."_ Unbidden Tsubaki's words came to mind, and with a sigh Kagome drew back into the normal world.

Tsubaki was giving her a curious look, but Kagome ignored it for the moment and calmed herself and tried to loosen her now-tense muscles. She darted a glace over to Kikyou, who was still working diligently. Her expression was one of the utmost calm, and… she seemed to be glowing a purple-blue color. Was that her spiritual aura or whatever? And so… hers was pink?

Shaking her head gently, she relaxed into her sitting position, this time skipping straight for listening to for heart. And, quickly, she heard it, and felt the familiar pulse.

She began gathering them together again; finding the task quite a bit easier than it was previously, and she could feel the final piece dancing at the edge of her senses. Almost… taunting, teasing. In a final, stronger call the small fragment surged forward and was ensnared effectively… but, what did she do now?

Or right, compress. Using everything she possessed, Kagome struggled to force all the pieces into one. She pushed, and pushed, harder as her power struggled against her. Kagome almost scowled at the sheer stubborn will of her own spiritual power, who was obviously not happy at the thought of no longer having the freedom it had enjoyed for many years now. But no, she would win.

With a small strangled noise, Kagome gave one last push and it finally gave in. Kagome could feel her entire body tingling, and soothed the none-too-happy power. Grudgingly it submitted, and backed off to wherever it had resided for her entire life, now as one whole piece.

Sighing, Kagome's eyes opened drowsily. Tsubaki was still sitting before her, but her expression was one of amazement.

"Are you all right Higurashi?" The black-haired miko questioned, an eyebrow lifting.

"Hai Sensei. Why?"

Tsubaki blinked. "You glowed, and while that is normal, the air closest to you was electrically charged with immense purifying energy. This has to be one of the first times I have ever been grateful to be human instead of youkai. And not only that, but I am assuming you successfully compressed all of your spiritual energy? That is quite a difficult feat for only having tried twice."

"Ah," Kagome smiled weakly, "Where is Kikyou?"

"Tamasaki left when the bell rang for the next class. Normally I would have roused you and sent you along as well, but the air around you… and well, it was an important step in your life that I felt best be taken without interruption. You will be excused for your tardiness of course, and I will accompany you to assure this. Come, let us go." Gracefully Tsubaki rose and headed for the door, and while sliding it open peered back at the stumbling michihiko. "Do you require a visit to the infirmary first?"

Kagome shook her head 'no', and her Instructor left it alone. "Very well then. I will however request that you visit him at your earliest convince. You underwent a highly draining task, and it would only be natural if your body were drained of its energy. Do not push yourself too hard."

"Hai, Tsubaki-sensei." She followed her Instructor dutifully, trailing a bit behind. Tsubaki's nose wrinkled, duly noting the girl's sluggish movements. Hm…

All eyes slid away from Sesshomaru as Tsubaki opened the door, and the inu youkai did not look pleased at the interruption. "Can I help you?" He growled.

"Hai," Tsubaki replied, "Higurashi Kagome's tardiness will be excused as she was with me, finishing today's work. Also, if she does not seem to be fairing well in your class, depending on her condition and your judgment, I ask that you send her to or send for Hotohori."

Golden eyes narrowed dangerously, and even Tsubaki felt a small shiver skate down her spine. "And just why," Sesshomaru glanced over at Kagome, "Is she tardy? What could the girl possibly have been doing that required her presence longer than the standard amount of allotted time?"

"She was learning," snapped the miko angrily, "How to properly contain her spiritual powers. Surely you would understand that a miko with such untapped power is highly dangerous, especially in a school, a city even, where youkai are plentiful? Apparently she is even stronger than I had anticipated, and was currently completely charged and in a half-conscious state when the bell rang. Not even **you** would have been able to stand anywhere near her. I felt it unnecessary to interrupt such an important process, and provoking a reaction from her in such a sensitive state would have been highly unwise."

"Hn." The molten eyes slid over to the tired miko, accessing her state. "Fine." He turned, and waited for Kagome to slump into her seat before picking up where he had left off.

The class seemed to take ages to finish in the mind of Kagome, as she robotically went through the steps of more complex commands and searches. It was still fairly easy stuff, so it would be all right that she wasn't really paying any attention to the actual class.

Actually, she was paying attention, just not to what she should have been. Her body seemed to be on autopilot, and Kagome was simply watching everything through a screen. She watched her fingers fly methodically across the keys on her desk, in what almost appeared to be a graceful manner. She watched as Sesshomaru taught, his baritone striking something within her. She wasn't coherent enough to register what it was however, and simple moved on to observe her friends.

Inuyasha's eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, and he seemed to be having a bit of difficulty typing fast with his claws. Miroku seemed almost bored with the entire thing, but once again she couldn't register properly why that would be. Sango seemed quite confident, and also a bit bored as well, and Hojo was fairing the same… why? Kikyou was wearing her usual expression of utmost calm, as her fingers dances lightly across the key. Kouga was apparently in the habit of worrying his lower lip when concentrating, and My-Linh frowned slightly.

How odd that she had never noticed any of this before. Sesshomaru on the other hand… he seemed to alternate between brushing a hand through his silky silver locks, and scratching behind his left ear. Hm.

_**Ding!**_

It was almost like a sense of vertigo as her body stood and began exiting the classroom with everyone else. She watched with detached intrest, as she apparently was able to speak to everyone about what had happened. Who would have guessed a body could go on autopilot and function perfectly without the actual involvement of the person?

During History she took the chance to study Tsukasa. He also moved with the graceful ease that Kikyou and Sesshomaru both possessed. He, on the other hand, tended to fidget with objects. Everyone had such strange habits… what was hers?

Tsukasa-sensei was simple going over the beginning of the war for the topic today. It wasn't all that interesting unless you were really into a bunch of fighting, bloodshed, and broken promises.

Everyone had grown uneasy when the Kagi had failed to reappear, and the two sides that had once coexisted in peace became bitter enemies. Both broke promises and ended up bombing one another until they were both forced to retreat and rebuild their numbers.

Which is what had been happening for the better part of the past fifty or so years. And now, it seemed, both sides were ready to engage in a bitter war once again to determine the ruler of the lands.

Yeah, that was about it.

Tsukasa seemed able to talk about it for as long as he wished however, and easily kept on doing so until the bell rang.

_**Ding!**_

They arrived fairly quickly at the lunch table, My-Linh expressing vague concern at the pale color of her skin.

"Come on Kagome, eat this."

The last thing she saw was the bread being pushed at her, before everything went black.

* * *

**KK:** Hm. Well, this is certainly an interesting new turn of events. Kagome gets to pass out again, and visit Hotohori. Isn't everyone delighted? 

**Seika:** One day, they are going to get fed up with you doing that, and chapters be damned they're going to kill you.

**KK:** Noooo. They wouldn't do that. :D

**Seika:** … Mmhm. You just keep telling yourself that.

**KK:** _:sighs:_ Whatever.

* * *

_Demon Gurl: _Don't you worry. It's approaching… really it is… o.O _:cough:_ Enjoy that this chapter was dedicated to you? 

_Silver Ivy:_ Yay! I'm glad you like it! Yes, it is a KagSess. :D I'm working on it… and the characters are fighting me on it. Oh well, what can you do? Yes, many people seem to like that, teehee. I wonder what I was eating before I wrote that…?

* * *

**Reviews** are _motivating_ and greatly _appreciated_:D 


	7. Departure

_Bringing Honor_

_Departure_

_By: Kuraii-chan_

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**KK:** Oh my, what day is today?

**Kouga:** Monday… the 14th.

**Shippou:** No dumbass, she means her BIRTHDAY.

**Kouga:** … What about her birthday.

**KK:** …

**Shippou:** Stupid wolf, it's today! TODAY is Kuraii-chan's BIRTHDAY.

**Kouga:** Oh… _oh. _Shit.

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**Disclaimer:** Oh for the love of- _again? _Fine. I don't own them. Hnnphf.

**Author Notes:  
****1**. I must thank **PurityFlower** for adding this story to her c2 _Sesshome._ This marks BH's first c2:D Hehe.  
**2.** I would like to add an extra thank you to everyone who has favorite'd or reviewed (or gasp, even both!).  
**3.** And finally, I must send one extra THANK YOU to everyone who as reviewed… and kept reviewing after that:D Reviews are the quickest way to an authoress' heart.

This chapter is dedicated to: **_OrionPeardott_** for being another wonderful reviewer who has stuck with me through both YAYACSM and now, BH. :D Much love.

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**  
Kisetu, Japan 3659 Training Center**

Blinking blearily, Kagome sat up. There was a rather loud pounding at the door, and with a quick stretch she shuffled over to open the offending thing.

And her mind was curiously blank… hm. _Am I forgetting something?_

"Yes?" she mumbled sleepily, not even fully processing who was stranding at her door. _I thought boys weren't allowed in the girl's hallway?_

"Good, both of you are awake," the smooth baritone seemed like the finest wine amongst cheap imitations, and Kagome strained to hear more of it. "Report to the auditorium immediately, we have a call from Naraku. He wants your Training class present, and the transmission will begin promptly in ten minutes. Do not be late."

A swish of silver hair, and he was gone, off to wake up another unsuspecting room. Poor things.

"Well come on Kagome, we need to get dressed, not gawk after Sesshomaru all morning. I imagine he'd have our heads if we missed the transmission after he went through the trouble to wake us all manually." My-Linh disappeared from her strange position right behind Kagome, struggling to peer over the other girl.

"My-Linh?" the miko questioned as she softly closed the door, "What happened last night? I seemed to remember… bread. And somehow I get the impression that that's the last thing that happened."

Bustling around quickly, My-Linh was already halfway dressed, looking quite funny in her uniform top, and pajama bottoms. Somehow black and silver did not compliment the pink and purple.

"You passed out and were taken to Hotohori by some very panicked friends, and one calm one. Give you one guess who, but anyways. Hotohori looked you over, had you take something, and pronounced you fine to go back and get as much sleep as you could."

Oh fun. How exciting… yeah, except not really.

"You done yet?" Asked My-Linh as she peeked her head in the room. "We've got bagels!"

Kagome snorted. "You're not even done yet, unless you plan on wearing those pajama bottoms and this is actually some strange new 'fashion' thing you're trying out." My-Linh somehow managed to squeak around the bagel stuffed in her mouth and ran to fix the problem.

Grabbing a brush and her silver ribbon, Kagome pulled the mass of raven locks back into a practiced bun and tucked the strands that had fallen loose behind her ears.

Grabbing a bagel, she quickly stuffed it in her mouth and headed for the door, meeting My-Linh halfway there.

It went unsaid that they had to hurry with only three minutes left to get downstairs and to the far right wing of the building.

They made it of course. Sesshomaru spared the duo a mere glance before continuing typing on the laptop he had brought along. Oops. She had yet to write her mother! _Oh well, I'll do it sometime today. It shouldn't take too long._

Taking a seat in-between Kikyou and My-Linh, Kagome relaxed and peered up at the giant blank screen. My-Linh seemed positively giddy.

"I bet he's going to tell us he need us for battle, and all that, and then ask Sesshomaru to send us on some flight or another. I'll get to see my brothers!" Kagome smiled, happy for her new friend.

"And I'll get to meet them." She added, and the kitsune nodded eagerly.

_**Click**_

All talking ceased immediately, and everyone looked up at the screen, which was now slowly gaining color, focusing in on a blurry figure. Horibuchi Naraku.

Kagome had to admit the man was quite attractive. Long wavy obsidian tresses cascaded like a beautiful waterfall from the ponytail it was currently ensnared in, a few locks brushing over his shoulders. Ruby-like eyes seemed to give him a dangerous air, but his breath-taking smile countered it perfectly.

_"Ah, ohayo gozaimasu to everyone. I trust you are all well rested, and curious as to what I woke you so early to hear. We have a strategy, an idea, but we need Trainees like you to add to our steadily growing number of fighters. After careful consideration, I have chosen your Training class, and I hope that you will come to battle with me."_

Sesshomaru stepped forward, drawing Naraku's attention away from the small group of Trainees. "We accept."

"_Sugoi! There is already a large aircraft to transport you from there to here prepared, and it should be there soon. Now, I would like to familiarize myself with the newest additions to the team both now and later. I take my job seriously, and consider all of you like family. You will be treated as such. Now, please stand one at a time and introduce yourselves as well as your two extra classes of choice."_

Kikyou stood first, "Tamasaki Kikyou. Hand-to-hand and healing."

"Kasu Miroku. Hand-to-hand and advanced programming."

"Takawaki Inuyasha. Piloting and sniping."

"Dai Kouga. Hand-to-hand and sniping."

"Taijou My-Linh. Hand-to-hand and sniping."

"Lyrea Sango. Piloting and advanced programming."

"Ueda Hojo. Piloting and advanced programming."

Finally Kagome stood, bringing up the rear. "Higurashi Kagome. Piloting and healing."

Naraku's eyes seemed to linger on her a little longer than the others, almost looking… questioning? Suddenly hyper aware of every aspect of herself, Kagome began to fidget with the cuff of her uniform under the intense scrutiny until he addressed Sesshomaru once more.

_"All right. A good bunch you have here. I look forward to meeting all of you in person. Sayonara."_

And the transmission ended. Sesshomaru stood regally, demanding everyone's attention once more. "You will go and pack your things. Leave them by the door on the inside of your room and they will be handled accordingly. Once you are finished, you may report back down here to wait until the airship arrives."

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Everything went smoothly, and everyone boarded the large airship.

Or well, everyone but two people.

"Sorry, I didn't realize we needed a bigger ship. We can leave everyone here and get another, or we can take all those already on board and have you two follow in one of your own smaller airships."

Sesshomaru sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. Why did everything always have to go wrong? And why to him? What had he done do deserve such bad karma? Sure, he wasn't the most pleasant of people but he didn't do anything unless provoked.

"It would take too long for you imbeciles to go back and get another ship since it couldn't even be done right the first time. No, we shall follow." The pilot shivered under the icy glare and nodded before quickly scrambling back to his aircraft.

Unbeknownst to him, the raven-haired girl on his right was thinking along those same lines.

_What could I possibly have done to anger Kami-sama so? Fate is a cruel mistress indeed, separating me from my friends and leaving to fend for myself against the Ice Prince._

Yes, Kagome had taken to giving Sesshomaru a new nickname or title of sorts. She was well aware that he was from an aristocratic family, and he was always so cold to everyone… thus the not-so-clever or even original title was born.

"Sis!"

Blinking, the miko turned at the familiar boyish voice of her little brother.

"Souta! What are you doing here?" She smiled as she ran up, huffing, "Came to wish me good luck or something?"

The young brunet snorted, "Not likely. I'm here to tell you and you'd better not do something stupid and go get yourself killed. Momma will have my head if anything happens to you. 'Sides, what would I do without an older sister to tease mercilessly?"

"You are too cute for your own good," She hugged the younger boy tightly, ignoring his muffled protests, "I expect you to keep up with your studies and make me and Mom proud. You're the man while I'm gone. Everything is up to you, all right?"

Struggling against her hold, once he finally regained his breath Souta beamed proudly. "Of course. I'll do a much better job than you, and then Momma will make _me_ head of the house even if you're there!"

Kagome chuckled lightly. "Yes of course Souta."

"And I expect you to tell me everything when you get home!" he added with a small pout, "I can't believe you get to go and I don't."

Kagome ruffled his hair fondly, despite all indignant squeaks. "You'll get your chance some day. And even then… it's not so great."

Large doe-like questioning eyes peer suspiciously at Kagome, "How could it not be great? You even get to go meet Horibuchi-sama!"

"You'll understand when you're older," She murmured softly, and at sound of the sad undertone in her voice Souta dropped the subject quickly. "I'll miss you squirt. And you know you'll miss me too, even if you won't admit it."

"Higurashi," Sesshomaru called frostily from behind her. "Hurry with the sentimentalities. We have places to be."

"Bye Souta." Kagome planted a kiss on her brother's forehead that he hastened to wipe off. "Yeah, yeah," he grumbled. "I'll miss you too."

With a small wave, she hurried over to the Ice Prince's side.

"So?" she questioned, noting the agitation in his golden eyes.

An eyebrow quirked arrogantly. "So?"

Suddenly Kagome felt the very strong urge to break something… more preferably over the inu youkai's pristine head.

"So," she ground out, sounding just as annoyed as Sesshomaru looked, "What is going on with the 'situation'?"

He sniffed delicately, almost as if purposely trying to piss the young ningen off. "I don't recall there ever being a _'situation'_ Higurashi." And it was working. Rather well in fact.

"Agh!" Shaking her head, Kagome threw up her hands in annoyance. "You are possibly one of the most infuriating people I've ever met! Honestly now, is it so hard to answer a simple question? Or are you just too high and mighty to consider using common decency?"

If at all possible, the eyebrow rose even further. No one had ever dared to speak to him in such a manner before…

The infuriated female in question continued to rant quietly under her breath, allowing Sesshomaru to catch little snippets of her thoughts like 'If he weren't my teacher I swear I'd purify him to a crisp, and then dine on fried youkai' and 'Who the hell was stupid enough to lavish so much attention on him that now he thinks he is better than everyone else?'

Sesshomaru thought that he ought to be infuriated as well, after all the things she was saying about him. Even muttering beneath her breath, and public outbursts. Her behavior was rather shameful… and yet, he couldn't help but be amused by the situation.

This Higurashi Kagome… she was quite an interesting little creature. Entertaining.

And she had piqued his curiosity.

_Once I figure out the enigma that is Higurashi Kagome, I will no longer be interested in her…_ Yes, he assured himself. It was all simple curiosity that would be remedied once he had figured out how her mind worked.

Of course, it didn't help that he had already been studying her for some time now. She just… defied all logic. She was supposed to be rude and uncouth as all humans were, and yet she was refined. She was supposed to be a weak little thing, and yet she could hold her own when the need arose. And while she lacked grace almost all the time, there were moments when suddenly she would astound him with said grace that she had already proved did not exist anywhere in her body.

Well, soon it wouldn't matter because his interest would fade. Soon he would unlock the mystery that was compacted in Higurashi's petite form, because after all he just didn't like things that confused him. And well, he'd be lying if he said she didn't confuse him in the least.

Sesshomaru looked at the still fuming female with only the slightest hint of curiosity in the icy depths of his molten eyes. Ah, another mental note. She was ruled by her emotions.

As if feeling the stare, Kagome turned to look up at her Trainer. "Nani?" she all but snapped.

He gazed levelly at her, demeanor cool. "Come, we must get situated or we'll be left behind. Unless you want to stay, then by all means keep sulking here." Calmly he began walking off, and Kagome mentally cursed him to hell and back.

"Yes, _Sensei_." Kagome answered, falling into step at his side. She missed the appraising look he sent her way, instead choosing to hum something unintelligible and probably quite mangled by her off-key singing.

Sesshomaru mentally sighed. It would be a long trip.

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"Do quit fidgeting." The Ice Prince ordered, and the raven-haired girl huffed.

"Well I'm sorry, but it's quite boring in here and you're no help. How do you do it? You've not moved once except for your eyes since we boarded."

"Hn." Kagome pouted, sinking in her seat and peering out her window. This was injustice! She was supposed to be the raven-haired beauty of a princess, and all she gets in a toad. Where was Prince Charming? Surely he can't be off on vacation…

Hm. Given the toad was fairly good looking… he was a real prick

_This is absurd. What a retarded story my life would make! Lets imagine something far more interesting. Like that raven-haired beauty of a princess part!_ Kagome giggled, and received a particularly spiteful glare that she pointedly ignored. _I'm um… being kidnapped! Yeah, that's it! I'm being kidnapped by the evil… Taiyoukai of the Western Lands! Haha, then he really would be an Ice Prince. All right, and why am I being kidnapped? Hm… a battle of sorts with his brother? Yeah, that sounds good. I'm being taken hostage in hopes of an exchange. Inuyasha would have to give up… oooh, a sword! Tetsusaiga. I'm so clever. All right, Sesshomaru wants his brother's sword, Tetsusaiga, and has kidnapped me so an exchange can be made._

_Hm. But Inuyasha isn't my Prince Charming. Ugh. The catch; I have no Prince Charming. Not yet, anyways. Because it's not Inu, he's just my best friend, or Kouga because as good a friend as he is I don't like him like that, and Miroku… well, I couldn't deal with Miroku, Sango can have him. All that leaves is… nobody._

"That's pathetic!" Kagome groaned aloud. "Stupid non-existent Prince Charming." A silver eyebrow quirked, but the male wisely refrained from saying anything.

With a sigh, the miko returned to her strange musings._ So… no Prince Charming. But that's all right, because I can save myself! Eek, but that makes me seem like a dyke! I can't wiiiiiiiiiiin! Well then, who? The only males left are Sesshomaru and Tsukasa. As much as we joke about Tsukasa, I get the feeling he would also be nothing more than a friend._

'And Sesshomaru?' Her mind quipped with something that felt suspiciously like a smirk.

_Is infuriating._ She replied dryly, _Surely you can't expect that even in a twisted life or story such as mine that I'd fall for **him**. I scoff at you! That is utterly absurd, and you know it! Plus, in the story he's the villain._

'So?'

_So, who falls for the villain? You'd have to be pretty special to go and do something like that. What would I do, see the "good" in him, and help him change his blood-thirsty ways? Hah! That's rich!_

'It could happen.' The voice sounded affronted.

_Tch. Whatever you say._

'You don't believe me?'

_Not at all. You'd have better luck convincing me that I could fall for Naraku. Haha, and even that's pretty far out there._

'So, I'll bet you on it.'

_Oh ho? Fine._

'You will fall for him before the war is ended.'

_Ha! That's far too vague. For all we know, the war won't end anytime near the end of my life._

'Hm.'

_Well, actually that's all right. It's a deal!_

'You must at least make an effort to know him better, or at least be civil. It would be cheating otherwise.'

_Whatever. I can do that._

Kagome cackled, earning another strange look from her Trainer. She only smiled mischievously in return. After all, there was no possible way she could loose.

"So!" She chirped, eager to prove the voice in her head wrong. "How's life?"

A blank stare.

"Um, your studies? I know, what do you want to be?"

Still a blank stare.

"OH! I know! What is it like to teach Trainees?"

Silence.

Hm. So this isn't working. Clearly another sign we aren't compatible!

"… Horrendous. I don't have studies. Anything that gets me away from here. Even more horrible than the first question."

Kagome blinked. Well, all right then.

After a few more minutes of silence, she began to fidget again, and Sesshomaru was not pleased.

"Can you not go ten minutes without causing some kind of disturbance?" Golden eyes were narrowed in annoyance.

"Um," The miko peered up at the ceiling, "No, I don't believe so."

Sesshomaru resisted the urge to repeatedly bash her head into the wall, before doing the same to himself. It was a very strong urge too…

"Cease that infernal racket!" He all but growled, and Kagome's innocent whistling stopped immediately.

"Well what am I supposed to do?" the raven-haired girl huffed, annoyed. "We can't all be boring like you, you know." She was quickly silenced by an angry snarl.

Sesshomaru towered over the source of his intrigue and annoyance. "You would do well to remember your place, and stay in line. Such remarks will not be tolerated in the future. You will in no way continue these unnecessary verbal assaults on my person. Are we clear?"

"Hnmph." Kagome glowered, arms crossed over her chest.

"I asked if we were clear, Higurashi," The golden eyed wonder forced her to look at him as his face was shoved in hers. "I expect a proper answer."

Her eyes flashed defiantly, "Well that's too bad isn't it? You're such an ass with that holier-than-thou attitude! Sure, you're allowed a little because you are my Trainer, but **you**… you push it too far! You can't possibly expect me to tolerate such treatment can you? I just try to be friendly and amuse myself, and you snarl at me!" The girl looked ready to spit in his face, but luckily for her seemed to think better of the idea.

Sesshomaru withdrew a bit. No, she had not actually fully angered him, but he had figured he could make her learn to respect him, as he deserved to be respected by his Trainees. But… Kagome Higurashi was somehow able to turn the tables on him.

Which, the childish side of him protested, wasn't really fair as she had been insulting him.

He squashed that thought. _Perhaps…the ningen is right,_ he conceded, _But at the same time she is at fault._

"Perhaps," he began imperiously, "If you would not agitate those around you and then insult their person it would not have happened."

At least she had the decency to look ashamed. "Ah, gomen. Maybe I should have brought something to do, like bring my laptop so I could write to okaasan." Kagome mumbled sheepishly, hesitantly offering a properly abashed look.

"Hn." He all but thrust his own computer at her.

Wide-eyed she looked from the laptop, to Sesshomaru, and back again. "But…"

"It will keep you occupied and fairly quiet." With a small smile, she nodded happily and settled back to being composing her letter to her mother.

_Mama,_

_Sorry for not writing earlier! I'm on my way right now up to Naraku's base. Can you believe it? I'm actually getting a chance to go out there and make a difference like we've always talked about… Don't you worry I'll be fine. And yes, I know you'll worry anyways, but I request that you at least don't worry quite so much, ne?_

_I got to say bye to Souta before I left, and I'm sure that you'll be hearing from him if you already haven't. I told him something about being the head of the house while I'm gone, so I'm sure he's going to ramble quite a bit… sorry!_

_And of course, studies were nice… for the two days that we had them! Teehee. Did you know Midoriko-sama was originally a poor village girl? Amazing… But anyhow, I'm hoping you and Buyo are doing well. Make sure the fat thing isn't getting too lazy, and send him my love. I hope the war isn't hitting our food supply too badly, and things aren't getting too tight. Please tell me if they are, and I'll see if there is anything I can do for food passes or a bit of money. You know, like side jobs! In fact, I might just do what I can anyways. It would give me a good chance to learn more about the base and those there. But that is all for now._

_All my love,_

_Kagome_

With a fond smile, she sent it to her mother and gently shut down the miniature computer and returned it to its owner who took it without a word.

With great effort, Kagome resisted from tapping her fingers on the first thing she could find. The silence was suffocating, but she wasn't quite ready for a replay of the earlier display. Especially, and she admitted it, because she had been the instigator.

Sesshomaru sighed audibly. "Yes, Higurashi?"

Oh. Well, she hadn't realized she had been staring. "Just wondering." Kagome answered flippantly, as if she was quite used to being caught staring when she hadn't even realized she'd been doing it.

Once more, the inu youkai wished to bash his head in. "Wondering what?" he questioned with the most uninterested tone he could possibly have mustered without showing his agitation.

"Oh, nothing." The raven-haired miko replied off handedly, shifting her attention to whatever was just beyond her window. _Just a little closer_ Sesshomaru thought unkindly _A little closer and I could wring her neck. No one would have to know; I'd just claim she had fallen out of the aircraft. She had been insanely curious about something and without my consent ventured off to find more about it. And fell. And died._

"Yay!" Kagome all but squealed in delight, "Look Sesshomaru! We're here!"

_Thank Kami,_ they thought in unison.

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**Japanese:  
**_Hai-_ yes  
_Iie-_ no  
_Sugoi-_ excellent or great  
_Ohayo gozaimasu-_ good morning  
_Arigato-_ thank you  
_Okaasan-_ mother  
_Sayonara-_ good-bye  
_Ningen-_ human  
_Inu-_ dog  
_Youkai-_ demon  
_Miko-_ priestess  
_Kami-_ god

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**KK**: Yeah, I'm cheap. That's all you get. Got to wait until the next chapter to finally meet Naraku up-close. Oh well, most of you don't seem to like that bishie… o.O Um, more for me?

**Seika:** You're just the only one weird enough to actually like him.

**KK:** :huffs: Oh shove it you.

While reviews aren't _required_, they certainly are highly **inspiring**. So, leave me a review and I will love you **forever**. :D (And they'd totally brighten my birthday!)


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